Acute diarrhoea is watery diarrhoea which lasts less than 2 weeks (14 days). Acute diarrhoea is usually due to gastroenteritis (an acute infection of the bowel).
Often the term gastroenteritis and acute diarrhoea are used interchangeably. However, acute diarrhoea is not always caused by an infection of the bowel but can also result from an infection elsewhere in the body or food intolerance.