Campylobacter is the commonest bacterial cause of infectious intestinal disease in the UK. The majority of cases are caused by the Gram-negative bacillus Campylobacter jejuni.

It is spread by the faecal-oral route and has an incubation period of 1-6 days.

It is spread by:

• Raw or improperly cooked poultry
• Untreated water
• Unpasteurised milk

PC

• prodrome: headache malaise
• diarrhoea: often bloody
• abdominal pain: may mimic appendicitis

Management

• usually self-limiting
• the BNF advises treatment if severe or the patient is immunocompromised. Clinical Knowledge summaries also recommend antibiotics if severe symptoms (high fever, bloody diarrhoea, or more than eight stools per day) or symptoms have last more than one week
• the first-line antibiotic is clarithromycin
• ciprofloxacin is an alternative although the BNF states that 'Strains with decreased sensitivity to ciprofloxacin isolated frequently'

Complications

• Guillain-Barre syndrome may follow Campylobacter jejuni infections