Causes and prevention of diarrhea

Article by Dr. Bui Thu Huong – Head of Emergency Unit, Day Care – Children's Center – Share99 Times City International Health Hub

Emergency diarrhea is a condition where diarrhea lasts less than 14 days, going out with loose stools more than 3 times a day. Without proper care, emergency diarrhea can cause dehydration and electrolyses, endangering the patient's life. Here are the causes and how to prevent the disease.

Diarrhea: Is a condition where loose stools or water ≥ 3 times in 24 hours.

Emergency diarrhea: Is an emergency initial diarrhea and lasts no more than 14 days.

Emergency diarrhea can occur due to the main causes including:

• Rotavirus is the main cause of severe diarrhea and threatens death in children under 2 years of age.
• Bacteria: E.coli, Shigella, Cholera, Campylobacter Jejuni, Salmonella …
• Parasites: Giardia, Cryptosporidium, amoeba
• Other infections: respiratory infections, urinary infections, Meningitis,…
• Emergency diarrhea caused by drugs, food, allergies,…

Favorable factors that lead to emergency diarrhea:

• Age: 80% of children have diarrhea < 2 tuổi, lứa tuổi cao nhất từ 6-18 tháng .
• Children with a number of diseases that cause immuno-reduction: Malnutrition, post-measles, HIV/AIDS …
• The practice increases the risk of emergency diarrhea: Bottle feeding or non-breastfeeding in the first 4-6 months; Weaning too early; Contaminated feed; Contaminated or non-cooked drinking water; Do not wash your hands before eating
• Season: Summer diarrhea caused by high bacterial infections, winter diarrhea usually caused by Rotavirus

In order to proactively prevent emergency diarrhea, the Department of Health prevents, the Ministry of Health recommends thecommunity:

Enhancing personal hygiene and sanitation:

• Wash your hands often with soap and clean water, especially before eating and after going to the bathroom.
• Each family has a sanitation house, does not go indiscriminately; do not dump waste, mand fertilizer into ponds and lakes; do not use fresh mand fertilizers, unmtil treated maniser to ensure hygiene for fertilizing crops.
• Ensuring the hygiene of the house and the surrounding environment.
• Limit access to epidemic areas.

Ensuring food hygiene and safety:

• Everyone, every home makes cooked meals, drinks ripe, does not drink water.
• Do not eat uncooked and cooked contaminated food, raw food such as fish salad, soup, sour nem …
• Choose to buy food from safe, sourced, clearly sourced food sources, do not use overdue food.
• Cooked food or leftovers, so that from the previous meal to the next meal must be well preserved; if used immediately after a short time, cover the table cage, leave in a cool and airy place; if you want to leave for a long time (a few hours or more), you must put it in the refrigerator, note that the refrigerator must be at the required level of cold enough.
• Wash your hands with soap before processing food to ensure that germs from dirty hands are not contaminated with food.
• Limit the concentration of crowded meals such as vegetarians, weddings, weddings, festivals … in an epidemic zone.

Protecting water and using clean water:

• Food and water sources of families must be cleanly protected, covered, not let dirty water sources from outside such as ponds, lakes, rivers, streams … flow in.
• In places where there is no running water and diarrhea, all drinking water must be disinfected with chlorramin B.
• It is forbidden to pour feces, waste, detergent and sick people's belongings into wells, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams …

Handling when someone has emergency diarrhea:

Immediate medical attention must be taken to the nearest medical facility for timely advice and treatment, not to leave patients at home or to buy self-treatment drugs because it can be life-threatening and spread the disease to families and communities.

Vaccination Is the most effective preventive measure against diarrhea to protect the health of the child. Currently, Share99 International Health Hub provides a variety of vaccines for children, including diarrhea vaccines for rota virus. To make an reservation for your baby's examination and vaccination at Share99 International Health Hub, you can contact HERE or contact hotline 0243 9743 556 for assistance.

Source: Ministry of Health

SEE MORE:

• Prevention and treatment of emergency diarrhea in young children
• Risk of dehydration shock in children due to emergency diarrhea
• Common complications and common mistakes about emergency diarrhea