Campylobacter species are sensitive to hydrochloric acid in the stomach, and acid reduction treatment can reduce the amount of inoculum needed to cause disease.Exposure to bacteria is often more common during travelling, and therefore campylobacteriosis is a common form of travelers diarrhea. Diagnosis
Campylobacter organisms can be detected by performing a Gram stain of a stool sample with high specificity and a sensitivity of ~60%, but are most often diagnosed by stool culture. Fecal leukocytes should be present and indicate the diarrhea to be inflammatory in nature. Methods currently being developed to detect the presence of campylobacter organisms include antigen testing via an EIA or PCR. Prevention
Pasteurization of milk and chlorination of drinking water destroys the organisms. Treatment with antibiotics can reduce fecal excretion. Infected health care workers should not provide direct patient care. Separate cutting boards should be used for foods of animal origin and other foods. After preparing raw food of animal origin, all cutting boards and countertops should be carefully cleaned with soap and hot water. Contact with pet saliva and feces should be avoided.The World Health Organization recommends the following:
Food should be properly cooked and hot when served. Consume only pasteurized or boiled milk and milk products, never raw milk products. Make sure that ice is from safe water. If you are not sure of the safety of drinking water, boil it, or disinfect it with chemical disinfectant. Wash hands thoroughly and frequently with soap, especially after using the toilet and after contact with pets and farm animals.
Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, especially if they are to be eaten raw. Peel fruits and vegetables whenever possible. Food handlers, professionals and at home, should observe hygienic rules during food preparation. Professional food handlers should immediately report to their employer any fever, diarrhea, vomiting or visible infected skin lesions. Treatment
The infection is usually self-limiting, and in most cases, symptomatic treatment by liquid and electrolyte replacement is enough in human infections. Antibiotics
Antibiotic treatment only has a marginal effect on the duration of symptoms, and its use is not recommended except in high-risk patients with clinical complications.Erythromycin can be used in children, and tetracycline in adults. Some studies show, however, that erythromycin rapidly eliminates Campylobacter from the stool without affecting the duration of illness. Nevertheless, children with dysentery due to C. jejuni benefit from early treatment with erythromycin. Treatment with antibiotics, therefore, depends on the severity of symptoms. Quinolones are effective if the organism is sensitive, but high rates of quinolone use in livestock mean that quinolones are now largely ineffective.Antimotility agents, such as loperamide, can lead to prolonged illness or intestinal perforation in any invasive diarrhea, and should be avoided. Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and ampicillin are ineffective against Campylobacter. In animals
In the past, poultry infections were often treated by mass administration of enrofloxacin and sarafloxacin for single instances of infection. The FDA banned this practice, as it promoted the development of fluoroquinolone-resistant populations. A major broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone used in humans is ciprofloxacin.Currently growing resistance of the Campylobacter to fluoroquinolones and macrolides is of a major concern.