Abstract

PIP: Children with severe dehydration, persistent diarrhea with dehydration, or bloody diarrhea with no signs of improvement must be hospitalized. In-patient care for a child with severe dehydration includes rapid intravenous (IV) fluid therapy. Children who can still drink should be given oral rehydration salts (ORS) solution while the health worker sets up the IV drip. Children with difficulty drinking should be given ORS as soon as the IV fluid therapy restores their ability to drink (within 3-4 hours for babies, or 1-2 hours for older children), since ORS amends mineral deficiencies more effectively than the IV fluids. The IV drip should be re-administered if the child still exhibits dehydration after 3 hours for older children or 6 hours for babies. If improvement is noted, health workers should encourage the mother to administer ORS and to breast feed frequently. Hospital personnel should observe the child for at least 6 hours before discharge. This allows them to be sure that mothers can maintain the child's fluid balance. Children with diarrhea for more than 14 days face malnutrition or death. Any child with persistent diarrhea who exhibits moderate or severe malnutrition and signs of dehydration and is less than 4 months old needs to be admitted to a hospital. Management of persistent diarrhea involves fluid replacement, appropriate diet, and treatment of associated infections, if needed. ORS is usually effective for persistent diarrhea, although in a few cases poor absorption of glucose may necessitate initial rehydration with IV therapy. Breast feeding is encouraged for infants. Older infants and young children should eat 6 times a day as soon as they are able to eat. Recommended diets for these children are a low lactose diet (milk, yogurt, or curds; cooked rice; oil; sugar/glucose) and a low starch and no lactose diet (eggs, chicken, or fish; cooked rice; oil; sugar/glucose). Children with serious infections may require nasogastric feeding at first. Shigella bacteria tend to be responsible for dysentery. Children with this bloody diarrhea should be treated with an antibiotic. If their condition does not improve and they are malnourished, less than 1 year old, were initially dehydrated, or have recently had measles, they need to be hospitalized. Drugs to reduce frequency of stools should never be given in cases of bloody diarrhea. Older babies and children should be given an extra meal and supplementary vitamins and minerals each day for two weeks.