Protect your child from Diarrhoeal disease

Paediatrist - 01

Diarrhoea is the increase frequency of stools more than 3 times a day with the changes of its appearance.
Diarrhoeal disease are one of the largest cause for child deaths in the world. It is the second large cause of death in under 5 age child. This is mainly due to the complications of diarrhoea like dehydration, secondary inflection. Most of the diarrhoeal conditions are cause by different kinds of inflections like cholera, Salmonella, Shigella, Ameoba, Giadia, Toxoplasma, Rotavirus, Norvovirus, Adenovirus. Although these are more prevalent in lower socioeconomic groups, all the children affected world wide. Therefore it is a one of the main public health issue through out the world.

Why diarrhoeal diseases are common in children............?

1. We all have good normal flora in our GIT. This develops slowly through out our lives. But children have immature immune system and GIT flora in there intestine. Therefore they are more susceptible to  get inflected by common infectious agents.

2. Most of the children expose to garden in your home every day. Then they get contacted with the pathogenic organisms and get inflected by them.

3. If your family member get inflected with feco-orally transmitted disease recently the immature immunity of your children will lead to disease transmission.

4. Other important thing is the pets in your home who will be the vector of the various diarrhoeal diseases. Your children are often contact them and they may inflected through this.

What are the diseases which cause the diarrhoeal disease........?

Diarrhoeal diseases, in medically Gastroenteritis is caused by more than one group of microbes they may be Virus, Bacteria, Protozoa or helminths (warms) like parasites. Therefore they may cause different condition in your child. You can see the list of causes for infectious diseases in this group.

Virus

Rotavirus - Commonest causative agent acute gastroenteritis
Norvovirus - Causes for gastroenteritis
Adenovirus - causes for gastroenteritis

Bacteria

Vibrio Cholera - Causative agent for Cholera
Vibrio parahaemolyticus - Causative agent for Cholera
Esterichia coli - Causative agent for several type of diarrhoeal symptoms

Salmonella typhi - Causative agent for Typhoid fever

Shigella dysenteriae - Causative agent for Shigellosis

Streptococcus aureus - Causative agent for some toxic diarrhoea.

Clostridium botulinum - Causative agent Botulism
Campylobacter jejuni - Main causative agent for Food borne gastroenteritis

Warms(helminth)

Ascaris lumbricoidis (Round warm)

Necator  americanus (Hook warm)

Strongyloides stercoralis (Pin warm)

Trichuris trichura(Whip warm)
Tape warm

Protozoa

Giadia intestinalis - Causative agent for Giardiasis
Toxoplasma spp.- Causative agent for Toxoplasmosis

Balentidium coli - Causative agent for Balentidiasis

Entamoeba histolytica - causative agent for Amoebiasis

Who are at risk for diarrhoeal disease.......?

1. Children and elders.
2. Persons with poor socioeconomic background.
3. Person with poor hygienic practices.
4. Persons who eat improperly cooked foods.
5. Persons who have immuno-compromised.
6. Persons with contact close contact to diseased one.
7. Travelers.

                          (map that shows the number of affected people for travelers diarrhoea)

What are the symptoms of diarrhoea........?

Even though they are non specific, you can see some variants in the symptoms according to the kind of disease. It may be watery diarrhoea  blood and mucus diarrhoea  Also the pattern of the abdominal pain and other symptoms  like nausea and vomiting, fever may vary.
However most of the diarrhoeal diseases are self limiting may not requires a antibiotic treatment but may have some complication like dehydration and malnutrition. If not manage properly those may cause to even severe complications.

What are the treatments for diarrhoea......?

Most of the time fluid replacement therapy is enough. This should be done properly. In addition oral rehydration solution will helps to prevent the electrolyte imbalance.

According to the condition you may be treated with antibiotics or anti-helminth like drugs.

How to prevent diarrhoeal diseases......?

Most of the diarrhoeal diseases are preventable as most of they are infectious diseases. For that you have to practice proper hygienic practices. Unless it is difficult to prevent diarrhoeal out breaks. Therefore it is all of your due to protect other from diarrhoeal conditions.Some of the important preventive measures have listed out below.


1. Use properly cooked food.
2. Avoid unhygienic food sources.
3. Make sure the food source is clean and hygienic before you get foods.(specially green leaves)
4. If you are a person preparing the food avoid your participation until you are completely healthy.
5. Use well prepared water.
6. Boil the water before use.
7. Avoid contact with disease persons until recovers.
8. Avoid specially the susceptible people get contact the disease persons. (children., elders)
9. Consult a doctor as soon as possible.
10. Properly practice the advice.



For further reference;
 WHO : Diarrheal disease
WHO : Food safety and food borne diseases
CDC : Diarrhoeal disease control 
World gastroenteritis organization(pdf)