Antibiotic-associated diarrhea
What is antibiotic-associated diarrhea?
In healthy people, many different species of bacteria live inside the bowel. Many are harmless or even helpful to the body, but a few have the potential to be aggressive troublemakers. Under normal circumstances, the "bad" bacteria are far outnumbered. So, the bowel's natural ecological balance keeps them under control.
This can change dramatically when a person begins treatment with an antibiotic. This is because antibiotics can kill large numbers of the bowel's normal bacteria, altering the delicate balance among the various species.
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