Hospitals note increase in number of children with diarrhoea

Hospital staff say that children suffering from diarrhoea are among the commonest reasons for people seeking medical advice in hot weather.
Doctors say hot weather can affect the health of children, making them ill more often than usual.
Speaking to the Vientiane Times on Thursday, an anonymous member of staff at Setthathirath Hospital said diarrhoea is one of the most common problems affecting young children and the elderly during the hot season.
Medical staff provide information about ways to prevent the spread of illness to people who visit the hospital, with common afflictions including dengue, typhoid fever, dysentery, and cholera. The expectation is that people who receive this information will pass on to their friends and family, she added.
Diarrhoea in children is very common and is often due to viral gastroenteritis. Children are vulnerable to dehydration and can quickly become very sick. Oral rehydration solutions are strongly recommended for infants and toddlers with diarrhoea, and for any child with frequent diarrhoea.
Nothing can slow down a child’s fun or interfere with family plans more than a bout of diarrhea, the medical advisor said. Diarrhoea is a common condition that occurs when stool has too much water in it, she added.
The colon is designed to absorb water so that the stool has form and consistency. At times, the stool absorbs too much water, resulting in diarrhoea, she explained.
Usually, when children get diarrhoea, it’s considered “acute”, meaning that it lasts only from a few days up to a week. The most common cause of acute diarrhoea is some sort of infection, whether viral, bacterial or parasitic.
Usually, medicine is not necessary to treat diarrhoea in children because in most cases, acute infectious diarrhoea will stop when the body clears out the infection.

By Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
 (Latest Update May 3, 2024)