LAUSR

Diarrhea is the most common illness in people traveling from resource-rich to resource-limited regions of the world.1 Most episodes of traveler’s diarrhea (TD) are benign and self-limited, but may require extra care in immunosuppressed patients.2,3 The major associated problem is dehydration, which can be exacerbated by immunosuppressive agents. TD refers to diarrhea that develops during or within 10 days of returning from travel to resource-limited countries or regions. For epidemiological purposes, it is traditionally categorized into 3 forms: severe, moderate, and mild.4 Severe TD refers to the passage of 6 or more unformed stools in a 24-hour period irrespective of the presence of at least 1 of these other symptoms: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or cramps, fever, or blood in stools. Moderate TD is defined as the passage of 1 or 2 unformed stools in 24 hours, plus at least 1 of the above symptoms or 3 to 5 unformed stools in 24 hours without other symptoms. Passage of 1 or 2 unformed stools in 24 hours without other symptoms is considered mild. Recently, a more functional classification has been proposed, taking into account the tolerability of the diarrheal illness and functional impairment of the patient that it causes