We often treat intestinal infections as an episode: a few days of symptoms, elimination of the pathogen, and recovery. In this view, the disease has a clear beginning and end. However, patient experiences and clinical data increasingly show that for some people, the story does not end when the diarrhea subsides or the microbiological test results normalize. Chronic abdominal pain, intestinal hypersensitivity, bloating, and unstable bowel movements can persist for weeks or even months. In this context, there is increasing talk of “leaky gut,” or a breach in the intestinal barrier—but this term is often overused and oversimplified.