 The mainstay of treatment is the assessment of dehydration and replacement of fluid and electrolytes . Administration of antibiotics has been shown to shorten the course of illness and duration of excretion of enterotoxigenic E. coli ( ETEC ) in adults in endemic areas and in traveller ’ s diarrhoea , though the rate of resistance to commonly used antibiotics is increasing and they are generally not recommended . The antibiotic used depends upon susceptibility patterns in the particular geographical region . Currently , the antibiotics of choice are fluoroquinolones or azithromycin , with an emerging role for rifaximin . Oral rifaximin , a semisynthetic rifamycin derivative , is an effective and well @-@ tolerated antibacterial for the management of adults with non @-@ invasive traveller ’ s diarrhoea . Rifaximin was significantly more effective than placebo and no less effective than ciprofloxacin in reducing the duration of diarrhoea . While rifaximin is effective in patients with E. coli @-@ predominant traveller ’ s diarrhoea , it appears ineffective in patients infected with inflammatory or invasive enteropathogens . 
