Title:- Diarrhea & its Symptoms

Table of Contents: Diarrhea

Who gets Diarrhea
Danger
Dehydration
Symptoms
Diagnosis & Prevention
About

I.

Diarrhea:Infectious Diarrhea is caused by a virus, parasite, or bacterium. It

can spread quickly from person-to-person, especially in daycare
centers. Some of the causes of infectious diarrhea, such as
Campylobacteriosis, shiga-toxin producing E. coli, giardiasis,
salmonellosis and shigellosis, are discussed in their own fact sheets
found in this document.
There are other agents that can also cause infectious diarrhea in
children. Although these other disease-causing organisms are not

discussed in detail, the general principles outlined in this section

are applicable to prevent the spread of any of these germs.
Non-infectious Diarrhea can be caused by toxins (e.g., certain
types of food poisoning), chronic diseases (e.g., cystic fibrosis) or
antibiotics (e.g., ampicillin). Non-infectious diarrhea does not
spread from person-to-person.
II.

III.

Who gets Diarrhea:-

Anyone can catch infectious diarrhea.

It can spread especially quickly among babies and young children
who are not toilet-trained or who may not wash their hands well
after going to the bathroom. It can also easily spread to the adults
taking care of them and helping them with diapering and toileting.

Danger:-

Two main dangers of diarrhea are death and

malnutrition. Death from acute diarrhea is most often caused by
loss of a large amount of water and salt from the body. This loss is
called dehydration.Dysentery is another important cause of death
related to diarrhea.

Malnutrition reasons:a) Nutrients are lost from the body in diarrhea.

b) A child with diarrhea may not be hungry.
c) Mothers may not feed children while they have diarrhea, or
even for some days after the diarrhea is better.

IV.

Dehydration:- The body normally takes in the water and salts

it needs through drinks and food. It normally loses water and salts
through stool, urine and sweat.
When the bowel is healthy, water and salts pass from the bowel
into the blood. When there is diarrhea, the bowel does not work
normally. Less water and salts pass into the blood, and more pass
from the blood into the bowel.
This larger than normal loss of water and salts from the body
results in dehydration. It occurs when the output of water and salts
is greater than the input. The more diarrhea stools a child passes,
the more water and salts he/she loses.

V.

Symptoms:Fever:- Paracetamol can be given to lower the fever. In areas with

malaria, fever is often a sign of malaria and the child will need the
appropriate malaria treatment.
Severe Malnutrition:- If you weigh children in the clinic, this will
alert you that a child may need nutritional management.
Respiratory Problem:- Children who have signs of respiratory
problems should be assessed for pneumonia. Children with
pneumonia should be given an antibiotic and treated appropriately
for the pneumonia or referred to a treatment facility.

VI. Diagnosis & Prevention:Diagnosis:The germs can be diagnosed by stool cultures or by looking at
stool under a microscope for eggs or parasites. (The healthcare
provider will ask for a stool sample and send it to a laboratory for
analysis). The physician will decide on appropriate treatment.
If dehydration occurs, the child should be brought to a community
health worker or health centre for treatment The best treatment for
dehydration is oral therapy with a solution made with ORS.
Prevention:Hand washing is the most important way to stop the spread.
VII.

About:- Medicity Hospital is a top tier multispecialty hospital &

Super specialty hospital in Navi Mumbai (Kharghar). It has wide
range of medical & super specialties including intervention &
dignoistics and is well equipped with latest & modern state of art
equipments for immediate & advanced medical care & best
Gynaecologists and joint replacement in Navi Mumbai. Located at
Kharghar, sector7, Aum Sai CHS, Plot no-C/23, next to Royal
Tulip Hotel.

http://www.khargharmedicityhospital.com