Table 1.

Causes of acute and chronic or persistent diarrheal disorders (32).

Types	Examples
Acute diarrhea	Infections Drugs or poisons Immediate onset hypersensitivity reactions
Chronic or persistent diarrhea	Infections with parasites such as cryptosporidium and giardia Other infections, usually in the presence of specific risk factors such as malnutrition, immune deficiency (including HIV, post measles), associated illnesses (pneumonia, urinary tract infections), or mucosal injury Congenital disorders of digestion and absorption including: Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (e.g., cystic fibrosis); enteropathies (celiac disease, food allergies, autoimmune disorders); specific enzyme defects (sucrase-isomaltase deficiency); transport defects (glucose-galactose transporter); and congenital intractable diarrhea (microvillous inclusion disease, tufting enteropathy) Short gut syndrome (bowel resection after necrotisingenterocolitis)