Global Health Minute- Diarrheal Disease, what’s it all about?

A lot of us hate talking about it. We do it in private, sometimes embarrassingly and often think it’s the kind of talk that could ruin a whole evening. We’ve had it while traveling, while visiting our great uncle’s first cousin after a fatty meal and had to squirm away to be alone.

According to the World Health organization, diarrheal disease is the second largest cause of death in children worldwide. Approximately 2 million children die every year because of diarrheal disease. Across the globe poor water and solid waste disposal mean unsafe drinking water for children and their families eventually leading to diarrhoea.

Diarrhoea is classified as three or more loose stools in a day. There are three types of diarrhoea according to the WHO classification:

-          acute watery diherrea; lasts several hours or days, and includes cholera;

-          acute bloody diarrhoea;  also called dysentery; and

-          persistent diarrhoea; that lasts 14 days or longer.

Most of the death from diarrhoea is caused by dehydration. Severe dehydration leads to extreme losses of water and essential electrolytes (sodium, potassium and others) that are not replaced by fluid intake. Fluids and electrolytes are important to maintain blood volume and normal body processes and without them the body is unable to function.

There are no early signs of dehydration, but as it progresses the symptoms become more pronounced. Children have sunken eyes and decreased skin elasticity eventually becoming lethargic and going into shock.

So what can be done to treat those children with diarrhoea? Most often a combination of sugar, salt and water are combined to make Oral Rehydration Salts. These  packets are lifesaving in the context of acute diarrhoea particularly with young children. Zinc supplements have been found to reduce the duration of a diarrheal episode by 25%.

The most significant intervention in reducing diarrheal disease is access to clean water to prevent the underlying infection. Cases of diarrheal disease in developing countries are due to lack of access to clean water and food and cross contamination of these with diarrhoea causing organisms.

What steps can be taken to prevent children from contracting diarrheal disease?

-          Ensuring pit latrines and bathrooms are far enough away from the water source is important.

-          Hand washing before food preparation

-          Exclusive breastfeeding for infants in the first six months of life.

These interventions need our help. This Earth Day help advocate for increased access to safe water across the globe.

For more information on diarrheal disease in children click here.