Slide 15
How to give oral fluids
(See also Figure
4) (Review Slide
5)
Teacher's Note
Slide 15 is complicated and students with less than 4 years of secondary education may have
difficulty understanding it. Do not waste too much time explaining the slide. Make sure
that they understand the main message - "Start
Rehydration Early" - soon after the first diarrhoea stool. |
Slide 15 is a graph which tries to show you the times at which the various signs of dehydration appear.
First, look at the up the scale up the left hand side which shows
the percentage hydration. At the top is 100% or complete hydration and at the bottom is less then 90%.
A child who is less than 90% hydrated is over 10%
dehydrated. Remember, from Slide
5, that a child who
has lost 10-15% of his body water is severely
dehydrated. The scale along the bottom is for time, and
the row of short black bars show when a child is passing
diarrhoea stools. So these are the times that he is losing water.
Now look at the two curves on the graph. Find the lower curve with the label
''actual dehydration". With a pointer, draw a line straight upwards at the time of the
first diarrhoea stool, until it meets the lower curve. You can see that the curve has already started to go down.
This shows that a child starts to become dehydrated as
soon as be begins to pass diarrhoea stools. Now find the upper curve with the label "clinical signs of
dehydration". You can see that this curve falls more
slowly. Find the arrow beside the words 'not here'. Follow it 11 upwards. The
dehydration line shows that the child's hydration is already down to 90% - so he is 10%
or moderately dehydrated. Already the child is in
danger. But clinical sips are only just beginning to
show clearly.
Q. What does this graph tell you that you should do for a child with diarrhoea?
A. The graph tells you to start rehydration as soon as
the child first begins to pass diarrhoea stools. Find the arrow which says "start rehydration here".
Notice that it is above the black bar for the first
diarrhoea stool. So do not wait for clinical signs of
dehydration to show clearly. The words 'not here'
mean that that is not the time to start rehydration.
Give oral fluids before the signs appear or the child
may get very ill and even die.
Teacher's Note
Remind students here about="diarrhoea-management-05.htm" target="_blank"> Slide
5. Ask them to look back at their own memory drawings of it.
We pointed out there hat the signs 5% or "mild" dehydration are more difficult to detect
than the signs of 10% dehydration, which are more difficult to detect that the
signs of 10% dehydration, which are what people remember. But you must try to recognise these early signs. Now we are saying
that a child begins to be dehydrated as soon as he begins to have diarrhoea. So
start treatment as soon as he passes a diarrhoea stool. Do no wait for any
clinical signs of dehydration to appear. |
