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Acute diarrhoea may manifest as acute watery diarrhoea or dysentery. The key to the management of acutewatery diarrhoea is correction of dehydration, proper feeding and appropriate use of antibiotic in selectedcases. Correction of dehydration may be done by oral route by using oral rehydration salts solution (ORS)recornmended by WHO/UNICEF or by intravenous administration of fluid and electrolytes, the preferredsolution being Ringer＇s lactate. Antibiotic is required for severe cholera and shigellosis. Antiparasitic drugsare required for amoebiasis or giardiasis. Use of various antidiarrhoeals is strongly discouraged. Feedingduring diarrhoea is very important. It does not worsen diarrhoea rather hastens recovery and preventsmalnutrition. Supplementation of zinc as an adjunct to rehydration therapy has also been suggested.
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DEFINITIONAcute diarrhoea is defined as passage of loose or watery stools at least three times in a 24 h period. When loose stools contain blood, it is called bloody diarrhoea (dysentery). It is the consistency of the stools which is most important rather than the frequency. Breast-fed babies often pass “pasty” stools frequently which is not diarrhoea. The mother can often tell accurately whether child has diarrhoea or not. MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEMAcute diarrhoea is an important cause of mortality and morbidity particularly in young children in the developing countries. Of the 11.6 million deaths among children less than five years old in all developing countries (1995) due to infectious diseases, 19% deaths are attributed to diarrhoeah]. In 1993, an estimated 3.2 million children below five years of age died from diarrhoea alone; 80 % of these deaths occurred in the first two years of life[2].
