[3] The cause of dysentery is usually the bacteria from genus Shigella, in which case it is known as shigellosis, or the amoeba Entamoeba histolytica; then it is called amoebiasis.

[2] Efforts to prevent dysentery include hand washing and food safety measures while traveling in countries of high risk.

[4] While the condition generally resolves on its own within a week, drinking sufficient fluids such as oral rehydration solution is important.

The frequency of urges to defecate, the large volume of liquid feces ejected, and the presence of blood, mucus, or pus depends on the pathogen causing the disease.

Each specific pathogen has its own mechanism or pathogenesis, but in general, the result is damage to the intestinal linings, leading to the inflammatory immune responses.

[citation needed] Bacterial infections that cause bloody diarrhea are typically classified as being either invasive or toxogenic.

The toxogenic species do not invade, but cause cellular damage by secreting toxins, resulting in bloody diarrhea.

[citation needed] Amoebiasis, also known as amoebic dysentery, is caused by an infection from the amoeba Entamoeba histolytica,[21] which is found mainly in tropical areas.

[22] Proper treatment of the underlying infection of amoebic dysentery is important; insufficiently treated amoebiasis can lie dormant for years and subsequently lead to severe, potentially fatal, complications.

[citation needed] When amoebae inside the bowel of an infected person are ready to leave the body, they group together and form a shell that surrounds and protects them.

[17] Efforts to prevent dysentery include hand washing and food safety measures while traveling in areas of high risk.

[25][26] Vaccination may eventually become a part of the strategy to reduce the incidence and severity of diarrhea, particularly among children in low-resource settings.

Most vaccine development efforts are taking place in the public sector or as research programs within biotechnology companies.

[4] If this treatment cannot be adequately maintained due to vomiting or the profuseness of diarrhea, hospital admission may be required for intravenous fluid replacement.

In ideal situations, no antimicrobial therapy should be administered until microbiological microscopy and culture studies have established the specific infection involved.

If necessary, a doctor may have to reserve antibiotics for those at highest risk for death, including young children, people over 50, and anyone suffering from dehydration or malnutrition.

[30] The seed, leaves, and bark of the kapok tree have been used in traditional medicines by indigenous peoples of the rainforest regions in the Americas, west-central Africa, and Southeast Asia in the treatment of this disease.

Williams carried out serological investigations into dysentery, co-authoring several groundbreaking papers with Sir Charles Martin, director of the Lister Institute.

[35] Bacillus subtilis was marketed throughout America and Europe from 1946 as an immunostimulatory aid in the treatment of gut and urinary tract diseases such as rotavirus and Shigella,[36] but declined in popularity after the introduction of consumer antibiotics.