Gastrointestinal Tract Infections: A Global Perspective

Gastrointestinal infections, especially diarrheal diseases, are responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. A wide array of bacterial, protozoal, and viral pathogens is responsible for infections in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Reports indicate that every 15 seconds, a child is dying from diarrheal diseases somewhere in the world. Older adults and immunocompromised patients are at greatest risk for more severe disease and complications. Poor sanitation, inadequate water supplies, and increasing globalization of food transport systems all predispose to the development of large epidemics of food- and waterborne outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease. The success of treatment, when clinically indicated, is increasingly threatened by rising rates of antimicrobial resistance among gastrointestinal pathogens. Data on relative rates of acquisition of GIT infections by travelers are incomplete. Traveling to Sub‐Saharan Africa, South America, and South Asia has been associated with the highest rate of gastrointestinal infections.

This Research Topic aims to highlight the global burden of GIT infections and the regional differences in GIT infections all over the world.

This article collection welcomes submissions of original research articles in the fields of epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of GIT infections. Besides original research articles, researchers around the globe are encouraged to submit reviews, mini-reviews, systematic reviews, perspectives, short communications, and opinion articles.

Keywords: gastrointestinal tract, global, infection, gut infection, gastrointestinal infection, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.