Respiratory Infection and Diarrhoea



Hygiene of body, food items should be proper and if it is a case of a child, this should be best. A little exposure of harmful bacteria may lead to several disorders and complications.

Diarrhoea in Children

Diarrhoea in children can be fatal due to loss of water and salts (electrolytes) from the body via stools. The risk is more in young children as their body is small, thus the loss is very fast and becomes life threatening.

Diarrhoea as such leaves the child not merely dehydrated but also malnourished. It makes her more prone to other diseases.
Thus, it is important that every child gets very good care during episodes of diarrhoea.

The focus of care is essentially on two things:

1. Prevent dehydration and replace lost fluids and salts at theearliest.

2. Maintain good nutrition for the child.

As soon as the child starts having loose motions, don't wait for anything. Immediately start giving some home available fluids, e.g. daal (pulse) water, lassi, rice water, coconut water, light tea, lemon-sugar shikanji or simply plain water. You can also fetch a packet of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) from the nearest health facility for
even from chemist's shop). Follow the instruction given on the packet to make it. Generally, one packet is to be dissolved in one litre of safe drinking water.
For each stool passed, give 200 ml of ORS to the child or as much as the child can drink comfortably. Give small, frequent sips in between also. Contact a health worker for further advise.

This advise must be sought as soon as possible if the child has any one of the following symptoms:

• Blood /mucus in stool
• Child is having excessive vomiting.
• Child is not getting better with ORS
• Child is not passing urine

Normal feeding must be continued during diarrhoea. It simply means a breast fed child must be continued on breast feeds. A child who has been on semi solid/solid diet also must be given this food during diarrhoea! episode. The only change you can make is to keep the spices and chillies low in the food.

Once a child recovers from diarrhoea, give her/him extra food for atleast one week.
Do remember that most of the diarrhoeal episodes are self limiting and get well on their own, without any medicines. Infact, don't give any anti diarrhoeal medicines to the child on your own. Seek the help of a health worker because self medication can be dangerous in general and in diarrhoea in particular.