[The treatment and prevention of acute diarrheal disease]

Abstract

Diarrheal diseases are the main cause of infant mortality in children under five year of age in the Third World. In order to diminish the mortality and morbidity rate, the World Health Organization developed the Diarrhoeal Diseases Control Programme (DDCP). The DDCP recommends two actions: to prevent diarrheal diseases and treatment of dehydration, the main cause of death in diarrheal diseases. Plan A is devoted to prevent dehydration; Plan B to treat orally dehydration; and Plan C to treat severe dehydration by means of rapid intravenous therapy. These plans were devised by health workers skill in the management of adults presenting Asiatic Cholerae. Thereafter the same method was used in non cholerae diarrhea, and finally in infants and children of all ages. The method has proven to be useful for treating all dehydration complications. The pediatric textbooks recommend the use of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) but do not support it very strongly. Plan C is not known by these authors, who recommend the old fashioned method used in the 70's. Here in I present the most advanced rehydration methods.