Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman. Oklahoma's Dede Westbrook (11) runs on a reverse and is tackled by Jordan Thomas (7) during the annual University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) Spring Game college football game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., on Saturday, April 11, 2015. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman.
What is dysentery? Dysentery broadly refers to infectious gastrointestinal disorders characterized by inflammation of the intestines, chiefly the colon. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines dysentery as any episode of diarrhea in which blood is present in loose, watery stools. Dysentery is spread among humans through contaminated food and water. Once a person is infected, the infectious organism lives in the intestines and is passed in the stool of the infected person. With some infections, animals can also be infected and spread the disease to humans.
Dysentery vs Diarrhea. Dysentery and diarrhea are often used as similar terms. However, the fact is that the two conditions are clinically different from each other. The most important difference between dysentery and diarrhea relates to the affected area. While watery diarrhea is a disease that affects the small bowel, dysentery affects the colon. Since the fluid flux in the small bowel is much more than that in the colon, an infection there produces diarrhea- a watery stool.