Medication prevents traveler's diarrhea

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

An antibiotic can be used to prevent traveler's diarrhea without developing resistance.
Traveler's diarrhea affects around 20 million individuals a year. It's treatable by antibiotics, but wouldn't it be better to prevent it? A team at the Center for Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas has shown through a clinical trial that the antibiotic rifaximin is effective in warding off the problem.

The trial involved 210 US students working in Mexico. Only 14.74 per cent of those who took a daily dose of rifaximin got diarrhea compared to 53.7 per cent of those on placebo. Lab studies show that the antibiotic, which acts only in the gut, does not encourage the growth of resistant strains. Antibiotic resistance is a serious problem with other preventive antibiotics. The researchers are now carrying out studies in Asia where diarrhea is caused by different bacteria than in Mexico.

Source
Annals of Internal Medicine 16th May 2005

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