A considerable proportion of people experiencing acute gastroenteritis develop postinfection irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS) and postinfection functional dyspepsia (PI-FD), according to a review published online in Gut. Researchers reviewed and performed a meta-analysis to examine the prevalence of PI-IBS or PI-FD after acute gastroenteritis using data from observational studies recruiting 50 or more adults. Forty-seven studies were eligible, with 28,170 individuals. Overall prevalence of PI-IBS was 14.5% and the prevalence of PI-FD was 12.7%. In 39.8% of individuals, IBS persisted in the long term (greater than 5 years of follow-up) after diagnosis. Compared with non-exposed controls, individuals experiencing acute gastroenteritis had significantly higher odds of IBS and FD (odds ratios, 4.3 and 3.0, respectively). The strongest association was seen for PI-IBS with parasites (prevalence, 30.1%), but only in two studies, followed by bacteria and viruses (18.3 and 10.7%). The highest PI-IBS prevalence was seen in association with Campylobacter in available studies (20.7%), while the highest odds for PI-IBS were yielded by Proteobacteria and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; odds ratio, 5.4 for each). The prevalence of PI-FD was 10.0 and 13.6 % for SARS-CoV-2 and bacteria (Enterobacteriaceae, 19.4%), respectively.
