Treatment
According to doctors of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), treating the cause of chronic diarrhea in infants is primarily through diet (e.g. avoiding foods their bodies dont tolerate such as gluten, lactose, fructose, and sucrose). Dietary fiber and fat can be increased and fluid intake, especially fruit juice intake, decreased. With these considerations, NIDDK doctors recommend that children consume a normal balanced diet based on their age to avoid malnutrition or growth restriction.Non-prescription medications such as loperamide are not recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for children below 6 years of age as they dont address the underlying cause of the condition. According to Benjamin Ortiz, M.D., a pediatrician in the Food and Drug Administrations Office of Pediatric Therapeutics, bismuth subsalicylate is not recommended in children below 12 years of age because its contents, including magnesium, aluminum, and bismuth, are not readily cleared from their bodies, making them more susceptible to harm.Studies have shown that certain probiotic preparations such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus (a bacterium) and Saccharomyces boulardii (a yeast) may be effective at reducing the duration and severity of diarrhea in acute settings as a result of gastroenteritis, while other studies have found that the use of probiotics doesnt have an effect on the length of diarrhea in toddlers.While treatments for chronic diarrhea of infancy arent clear cut, it is crucial to address the complications of dehydration that may arise from chronic diarrhea with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines recommendation of oral rehydration therapy (ORT).
It is estimated that Africa and South Asia comprise more than 80% of deaths from diarrhea in children. In fact, about 75% of the childhood deaths from diarrhea come from only 15 countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the proportion of deaths attributable to diarrheal illness among children less than 5 years of age was 13.2% in 2002. Half of these childhood deaths were due to chronic diarrheal causes.Worldwide, studies estimate that diarrheal illness affects 3 to 20% of children under the age of 5 with an incidence of 2.7 episodes of diarrhea per child-year. Developing nations experience higher burden of disease and mortality from chronic diarrhea in children compared to developed nations. In the United States, it is reported that 15 to 20% of young children have an episode of acute diarrhea each year. Compared to worldwide estimates, the United States has a lower incidence rate of chronic diarrhea in young children reported at 0.18 episodes per child year. In pediatrics, diarrhea is a common complaint making up 9% of U.S. hospital visits for children less than 5 years old. In contrast to resource-poor nations, resource-rich nations such as the United States experience less chronic diarrhea severity. In the United States, approximately a quarter of chronic diarrhea cases in young children seek medical care and less than 1% of cases are hospitalized. == References ==