On page links

Diarrhoea: Why it is Important  |  Key Messages

Supporting information for key messages:  1   2   3   4   5   6   7

Diarrhoea Facts for Life - pdf 183 kb [ Facts for Life saves lives ] [ Essential Facts for Life messages ]

Facts for Life Home | What is Facts for Life?
 

 
If families and communities work together, with support from governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), they can do much to prevent the conditions that cause diarrhoea.

1. Diarrhoea kills children by draining liquid from the body, thus dehydrating the child. As soon as diarrhoea starts, it is essential that the child be given extra fluids as well as regular foods and fluids. (Supporting Information)
    
2. A child's life is in danger if there are several watery stools within an hour or if there is blood in the faeces. Immediate help from a trained health worker is needed. (Supporting Information)
    
3. Breastfeeding can reduce the severity and frequency of diarrhoea. (Supporting Information)
    
4. A child with diarrhoea needs to continue eating regularly. While recovering from diarrhoea, the child needs at least an extra meal every day for at least two weeks. (Supporting Information)
    
5. If the child is dehydrated with severe or persistent diarrhoea, only oral rehydration solution or medicines recommended by a trained health worker should be used. Other diarrhoea medicines are generally ineffective and could be harmful to the child. (Supporting Information)
    
6. To prevent diarrhoea, all faeces should be disposed of in a latrine or toilet or buried. (Supporting Information)
    
7. Good hygiene practices protect against diarrhoea. Hands should be thoroughly washed with soap and water or ash and water after contact with faeces, and before touching food or feeding children. (Supporting Information)

 
Diarrhoea 
Supporting Information

A child has diarrhoea when he or she passes three or more watery stools a day. The more numerous the watery stools, the more dangerous the diarrhoea.

Some people think that drinking liquids makes diarrhoea worse. This is not true. A child with diarrhoea should be given drinks as often as possible until the diarrhoea stops. Drinking lots of liquids helps to replace the fluids lost during diarrhoea.

Recommended drinks for a child with diarrhoea:

• breastmilk (mothers should breastfeed more often than usual)
• soups
• rice water
• fresh fruit juices
• weak tea with a little sugar
• coconut water
• clean water from a safe source. If there is a possibility the water is not clean, it should be purified by boiling or filtering.
• oral rehydration salts (ORS) mixed with the proper amount of clean water.

To avoid dehydration, breastfed children should breastfeed as often as possible, and other children should drink the following amounts of liquids every time a watery stool is passed:

• for a child under the age of two years: between a quarter and a half of a large cup
• for a child aged two or older: between a half and a whole large cup.

Drinks should be given from a clean cup. A feeding bottle should never be used. It is difficult to clean bottles completely and unclean bottles can cause diarrhoea.

If the child vomits, the caregiver should wait for 10 minutes and then begin again to give the drink to the child slowly, small sips at a time.

The child should be given extra liquids until the diarrhoea has stopped.

Diarrhoea usually stops after three or four days. If it lasts longer than one week, caregivers should seek help from a trained health worker.

 
Diarrhoea 
Supporting Information

Parents should immediately seek help from a trained health worker if the child:

• passes several watery stools in one or two hours
• passes blood in the faeces
• vomits frequently
• has a fever
• is extremely thirsty
• does not want to drink
• refuses to eat
• has sunken eyes
• looks weak or is lethargic
• has had diarrhoea for more than one week.

If the child has any of these signs, help from a trained health worker is needed urgently. In the meantime, the child should be given ORS solution or other liquids.

If the child passes several watery stools in one or two hours and vomits, there is cause for alarm – these are possible signs of cholera. Cholera can kill children in a matter of hours. Seek medical help immediately.

• Cholera can spread throughout the community quickly through contaminated water or food. Cholera usually occurs in situations where there is poor sanitation and overcrowding.
• There are four steps to be taken to limit the spread of cholera or diarrhoea:
   
  1. Dispose of all faeces in a latrine or toilet or bury them
  2. Wash hands with soap or ash and water after contact with faeces
  3. Use safe drinking water
  4. Wash, peel or cook all foods.

 
Diarrhoea 
Supporting Information

Breastmilk is the best source of liquid and food for a young child with diarrhoea. It is nutritious and clean and helps fight illness and infections. An infant who is fed only breastmilk is unlikely to get diarrhoea.

Breastmilk prevents dehydration and malnutrition and helps replace lost fluids. Mothers are sometimes advised to give less breastmilk if a child has diarrhoea. This advice is wrong. Mothers should breastfeed more often than usual when the child has diarrhoea.

 
Diarrhoea 
Supporting Information

A child with diarrhoea loses weight and can quickly become malnourished. A child with diarrhoea needs all the food and fluid he or she can take. Food can help stop the diarrhoea and help the child recover more quickly.

A child with diarrhoea may not want to eat or may vomit, so feeding can be difficult. If the child is around six months of age or older, parents and caregivers should encourage the child to eat as often as possible, offering small amounts of soft, mashed foods or foods the child likes. These foods should contain a small amount of salt. Soft foods are easier to eat and contain more fluid than hard foods.

Recommended foods for a child with diarrhoea are well-mashed mixes of cereals and beans, fish, well-cooked meat, yogurt and fruits. One or two teaspoons of oil can be added to cereal and vegetables. Foods should be freshly prepared and given to the child five or six times a day.

After the diarrhoea stops, extra feeding is vital for a full recovery. At this time, the child needs to eat an extra meal a day, or breastfeed more every day, for at least two weeks. This will help the child replace the energy and nourishment lost due to diarrhoea.

A child is not fully recovered from diarrhoea until he or she is at least the same weight as when the illness began.

Vitamin A capsules and foods that contain vitamin A help a child recover from diarrhoea. Foods that contain vitamin A include breastmilk, liver, fish, dairy products, orange or yellow fruits and vegetables, and green leafy vegetables.

 
Diarrhoea 
Supporting Information

Diarrhoea usually cures itself in a few days. The real danger is the loss of liquid and nutrients from the child's body, which can cause dehydration and malnutrition.

A child with diarrhoea should never be given any tablets, antibiotics or other medicines unless these have been prescribed by a trained health worker.

The best treatment for diarrhoea is to drink lots of liquids and oral rehydration salts (ORS) properly mixed with water.

If ORS packets are not available, dehydration can be treated by giving the child a drink made with four level teaspoons of sugar and half a level teaspoon of salt dissolved in one litre of clean water. Be very careful to mix the correct amounts, as too much sugar can make the diarrhoea worse, and too much salt can be extremely harmful to the child. If the mixture is made a little too diluted no harm can be done and there is very little loss of effectiveness.

Measles frequently causes severe diarrhoea. Immunizing children against measles prevents this cause of diarrhoea.

 
Diarrhoea 
Supporting Information

Children and adults can swallow germs that cause diarrhoea if faeces touch the household's drinking water, food, hands, utensils or food preparation surfaces. Flies that settle on faeces and then on food also transmit the germs that cause diarrhoea. Covering food and drinking water protects them from flies.

All faeces, even those of infants and young children, carry germs and are therefore dangerous. If children defecate without using the latrine or toilet, their faeces should be cleaned up immediately and put down the toilet or buried. Keeping latrines and toilets clean prevents the spread of germs.

If there is no access to a toilet or latrine, adults and children should defecate away from houses, paths, water supplies and places where children play and then the faeces should be buried under a layer of soil.

In communities without toilets or latrines, the community should consider joining together to build such facilities.

Water sources should be kept clear of animal or human faeces.

 
Diarrhoea 
Supporting Information

Hands should always be washed with soap and water or ash and water after defecating, after cleaning the baby's bottom, and immediately before feeding children, handling food or eating.

Young children frequently put their hands in their mouths, so it is important to keep the household area clean and to wash children's hands often with water and soap or ash, especially before giving them food.
 

Other hygiene measures can help to prevent diarrhoea:

• Food should be prepared and thoroughly cooked just before eating. Food left standing can collect germs that can cause diarrhoea. After two hours cooked foods are not safe unless they are kept very hot or very cold.
• All refuse should be buried, burned or safely disposed of to stop flies from spreading disease.