dysentery
/ˈdɪs(ə)nt(ə)ri
/noun [mass noun]
Infection of the intestines resulting in severe diarrhoea with the presence of blood and mucus in the faeces.
- Amoebic dysentery is caused by the protozoan Entamoeba histolytica, mainly in warm climates, and spread by contaminated water and food; bacterial dysentery is caused by bacteria of the genus Shigella and can also spread by contact (see shigella).
- Doctors there were seeing many cases of diarrhoeal disease and feared epidemics of dysentery and cholera.
- Cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and other illnesses can be contracted from untreated bathing and drinking water.
Derivatives
dysenteric
/ adjective ...- Fluid replacement proved invaluable in the treatment of dehydration, due to cholera and dysenteric diseases, but intravenous fluid had to be made up fresh, and all equipment had to be boiled at every use.
- Does the dysenteric subject generate in his intestinal mucous membrane, or elsewhere, a virus capable of causing the disease in others?
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French dissenterie, or via Latin from Greek dusenteria, from dusenteros 'afflicted in the bowels', from dus- 'bad' + entera 'bowels'.
This comes via Latin from Greek dusenteria, from dusenteros ‘afflicted in the bowels’, from dus- ‘bad’ and entera ‘bowels’, found in medical terms such as enteritis (early 20th century).