Gastroenteritis is inflammation of the stomach and intestines that causes diarrhoea, vomiting or both, and it is common in children. What is diarrhoea? An increase in the number of bowel movements, an increase in the amount of stool, or a change in the consistency of the stool. What is vomiting? The return of undigested food from the stomach. What causes gastroenteritis? The illness may be caused by a virus or by other germs (microbes).
Viral gastroenteritis: the illness usually lasts less than a week; there may also be vomiting, sometimes with fever. Microbial gastroenteritis: the illness lasts longer, the patient has a fever, bloody diarrhoea is seen, and there is abdominal pain when passing stool.
Symptoms: these include diarrhoea, vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, weakness and fever.
If your child has any of the following signs, contact a doctor immediately: abdominal pain, not tolerating food, refusing to drink, sunken eyes, unusual sleepiness, not passing urine or passing only a little, a dry tongue, vomiting, frequent diarrhoea (especially if it is watery) and bloody diarrhoea. Treatment: the doctor will examine your child and decide whether treatment should be given at home or in hospital.
Treatment at home usually includes following a diet for diarrhoea with more frequent meals at shorter intervals (breast milk, soup, plain boiled rice, yoghurt, banana, apple, unsweetened fluids), preparing ORS (oral rehydration solution) as instructed by the doctor, and taking the prescribed oral medicines according to the child's age and condition.
Treatment in hospital usually includes the above plus intravenous fluids (drip), antibiotic treatment and diagnostic tests (stool, urine, blood) as decided by the doctor.
Prevention
- The spread of microbial diarrhoea and vomiting is easier to prevent. For example, wash and disinfect your child's feeding utensils and toys before use. Try to make sure that all family members keep up their personal hygiene.
- Keep food at the right temperature. If you give your child eggs, boil them for 6 minutes until they are completely hard, and cook chicken well.
- It is not possible to prevent a child from catching the viruses that cause diarrhoea and vomiting, but after infection the child becomes immune to the particular virus that caused the illness.
Breastfeeding your baby is the most important factor in reducing diarrhoea in infants.
Personal hygiene: wash your hands and your child's hands before giving milk or starting to prepare food, after eating, and before and after using the toilet. Eat fruit and vegetables only after they have been disinfected. Do not buy food from street vendors or hawkers. Eat cooked food straight away; the shorter the time between cooking food and eating it, the lower the chance of contamination.
Use safe drinking water and, as far as possible, avoid ice made outside the home. If you live in an area without access to treated, piped drinking water, always boil water for one minute before use. When travelling, going out for leisure and so on, use standard sealed bottled water whenever possible.
Treatment for bottle-fed infants: Day 1: you can still give your baby milk in the first 24 hours; on the doctor's advice it can be made more dilute before feeding. Day 2: from the second day you can gradually start giving your baby food. Day 3: your baby should normally have recovered fully, and the usual feeding routine can be resumed.
Treatment for older children: Day 1: give the child milk and oral rehydration solution, or unsweetened fruit juice diluted (one part to ten parts water). Day 2: you can add unsweetened fruit purée and vegetable purée to your child's diet. Day 3: chicken and soup can be added to your child's diet. Milk can be given again.
Day 4: bread, biscuits, eggs, meat and fish can be added to your child's diet. Day 5: your child should normally have recovered fully and can go back to their normal diet.
Prepared by: Azam Tirafkan – Education Unit
Document code: NO-BR-10