Question
A two-month-old baby has a bloated belly and refuses to eat. The hospital examination indicates that the baby has gastroenteritis. What is gastroenteritis?
Answer
Gastritis is a general term for various types of inflammation of the gastric mucosa. As a descriptive term used by clinical doctors, gastritis includes a variety of gastric mucosal inflammations, which can be broadly categorized into acute gastritis and chronic gastritis. It can further be subdivided into erosive gastritis, atrophic gastritis, drug-induced gastritis, stress gastritis, corrosive gastritis, bile reflux gastritis, gastric ulcer-related gastritis, and idiopathic gastritis, among others.