title: United States male students who heavily consume alcohol in Mexico are at greater risk of travelers' diarrhea than their female counterparts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The relationship between alcohol consumption and travelers' diarrhea has not been well studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of US college students (n=171), who attended 2001 or 2002 summer educational sessions in Guadalajara, Mexico, were followed prospectively to examine the frequency of alcohol consumption and the development of travelers' diarrhea.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More male students reported consuming >5 drinks/day of drinking while in Mexico compared to female students (p <.001). Males who consumed >5 drinks/day of drinking while in Mexico were more likely to develop diarrhea than their female counterparts who drank the same amount (79% vs. 46%; p=.035). No association was found between the development of travelers' diarrhea and the consumption of fewer than 5 drinks per day in Mexico. Non-drinkers accounted for only 8% of the population and had a relatively high attack rate of diarrhea (69%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that males who drink heavily are at high risk for developing travelers' diarrhea and may be a group of people to target for education about the moderation of use of alcohol while traveling. Nondrinkers also deserve further study in larger numbers to confirm an apparently high attack rate of diarrhea and to explore what risk factors might be involved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Amber P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Triana
authors.forename: Zhi-Dong
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Herbert L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: DuPont
authors.forename: Charles D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Ericsson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students; D014195:Travel; D014481:United States