NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A serious bout with a tummy bug may
mean heartburn years later, new research shows. Serious
bacterial or viral infections of the digestive system-known
medically as infectious gastroenteritis-may lead to some cases
of irritable bowel syndrome, possibly by causing low-grade
inflammation in the intestine, Dr. Alex Ford of McMaster
University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ontario and his
colleagues note. Studies have suggested that such infections
could also be linked with functional dyspepsia-basically,
symptoms of heartburn, fullness and indigestion with no known
cause-but the evidence isn't as strong. To investigate, Ford and
his team looked at a group of people who had been living in the
small rural town of Walkerton, Ontario, during a 2000 outbreak
of bacterial gastroenteritis after the municipal water supply
became contaminated with cow manure. At least 2,300 people were
sickened, and seven died. Two years after the outbreak, in 2002,
the researchers enrolled a representative samp