Diarrhoea causes dehydration. Children are more likely than adults to die from diarrhoea because they become dehydrated more quickly. Diarrhoea is also a major cause of child malnutrition.

2.2 million people in developing countries, most of them children, die every year from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene and overcrowding. 90% are children under 5, mostly in developing countries. Undernutrition is the underlying cause of a substantial proportion of all child deaths. Infants who are fed only breastmilk during the first 6 months seldom get diarrhoea. At six months, in addition to breastmilk, complementary foods with increased feeding frequency and changes in food consistency, quantity, and diversity as the child ages.

Thousands of deaths could be averted through a combined prevention and treatment strategy — interventions such as improved mother and child nutrition, optimal breastfeeding practices; Oral Rehydration Therapy [ORT]; new low-osmolarity formulations of ORS; incorporating rotavirus vaccines; zinc supplementation during diarrhoea episodes; immunizing all children against measles; appropriate drug therapy; increased access to safe clean water and sanitation facilities and improved personal and domestic hygiene, including keeping food and water clean and washing hands before touching food.

Families and communities are working together, with support from governments, states, corporations and non-governmental organizations, to prevent the conditions that cause diarrhoea and thereby rapidly reducing child mortality.

TIME Europe
 16 October 2006

Diarrhea kills more young children around the world than malaria, AIDS and TB combined. Yet a simple and inexpensive treatment can prevent many of those deaths. Why isn't it more widely used?

A Simple Solution
In the West, it's an inconvenience, but, in the developing world, it can be a death sentence. It kills millions of children every year, yet the treatment is a simple mixture of salt, sugar and water. So why isn't more being done to fight diarrhea?

Surviving Diarrhea
Most deaths from diarrhea can be prevented by giving the victim oral rehydration. A guide to how it works

Dehydration

Prevent and Treat | Treatment Plans
Dehydration caused by diarrhoea is one of the biggest single killers of children in the modern world and diarrhoea itself is one of the major causes of nutritional loss and poor growth.  [more]

Rehydration

"The discovery that sodium transport and glucose transport are coupled in the small intestine so that glucose accelerates absorption of solute and water (is) potentially the most important medical advance this century."  The Lancet - British Scientific Journal - 5th August, 1978 [more]

Oral Rehydration Solutions

Home Made | Packaged
Most often, diarrhoea kills a child by dehydration, which means that too much liquid has been drained out of the child's body. To replace the liquid being lost it is essential to give the child extra drinks as soon as diarrhoea starts.

Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) is the cheap, simple and effective way to treat dehydration caused by diarrhoea. [more]

Breastfeeding

Facts | Frequently Asked Questions | HIV
During the first 6 months of life, infants should be exclusively breastfed. This means that the healthy baby should receive breastmilk and no other fluids, such as water, teas, juice, cereal drinks, animal milk or formula. Exclusively breastfed babies are much less likely to get diarrhoea or to die from it than are babies who are not breastfed or are partially breastfed. [more]

Initiation of Breastfeeding by Breast Crawl

Video | 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding | Scientific Overview | Recommendations & Vision | Reviews
UNICEF, WHO and WABA along with the scientific community strongly recommend initiating breastfeeding within half an hour of birth. Evidence shows that early initiation can prevent 22% of all deaths among babies below one month in developing countries. Every newborn, when placed on the mother’s abdomen, has ability to find its mother’s breast all on its own and to decide when to take the first breastfeed. This is known as the ‘Breast Crawl’. [more]

Low-Osmolarity ORS

Q & A | Technical FAQs
Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) has been the cornerstone of diarrheal disease control since 1970s. Recently, the ORS formulation was revised by reducing the sodium and glucose content. This new, low-osmolarity ORS, improves the efficacy of ORS, reduces the need for unscheduled intravenous infusions, lowers stool volume, and causes less vomiting compared with standard ORS. [more]

Zinc Supplementation

ORS and Zinc: Treatment of diarrhoea is now more effective
Recent studies suggest that a 10- to 14-day therapy of zinc treatment can considerably reduce the duration and severity of diarrhoeal episodes, decrease stool output, and lessen the need for hospitalization. Zinc may also prevent future diarrhea episodes for up to three months. [more]

Rotavirus Disease & Vaccines

Key Facts
Worldwide, almost every child will have at least one rotavirus infection before he or she is five years old. The virus is so contagious and resilient that providing clean water and promoting proper hygiene do not significantly reduce incidence, which is nearly the same in industrialized and developing countries. Additionally, because rotavirus usually causes profuse vomiting, ORS/ORT is difficult to administer. [more]

Hygiene, Hand-washing and Clean Water

Providing clean water for drinking and food preparation, teaching children and adults to wash their hands properly are some of the most important things governments and families can do to protect health. These proven interventions have already made a world of difference for millions and millions of people. [more]

Enhanced Diarrheal Disease Control

Despite impressive gains made in the 1980s and 1990s, severe dehydration still contributes significantly to childhood morbidity and mortality in the developing world.

Three new interventions for diarrheal disease control, when combined with traditional efforts, promise dramatic reductions in diarrhea-related death and hospitalization worldwide:

• A new, low-osmolarity formulation of oral rehydration solution (ORS)
• Zinc treatment during diarrheal episodes
• New vaccines against rotavirus

Learn more about these advances, and about traditional interventions such as breastfeeding and washing hands, browse the extensive library of useful documents from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, PATH, and many others.