J Travel Med. 2023 Jul 31;taad101. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taad101. Online ahead of print.

Jiyang Chan ¹, Niels Best ^1 2, Markia Ward ¹, Maris Arcilla ³, Jarne Hattem ⁴, Damian C Melles ⁵, Menno D de Jong ⁴, Constance Schultsz ^4 6, Perry van Genderen ⁷, John Penders ^1 8

Author information

¹School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Department of Medical Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Infection Prevention, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, the Netherlands.

²Institute of Medical Microbiology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany.

³Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

⁴Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, Location AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

⁵Department of Medical Microbiology and Medical Immunology, Meander Medical Centre, Amersfoort, Netherlands.

⁶Department of Global Health, Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

⁷The Institute for Tropical Diseases, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

⁸School for Public Health and Primary Care (Caphri), Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Abstract

By longitudinally following a large cohort of intercontinental travellers, this study highlights the importance of considering multiple risk factors to comprehend post-infectious Irritable Bowel Syndrome (PI-IBS). Stomach cramps, antibiotic use and nausea during travel were among the variables that predicted PI-IBS development following an episode of traveller's diarrhoea.