These agents should be used only if bloody diarrhea is not present.Diosmectite, a natural aluminomagnesium silicate clay, is effective in alleviating symptoms of acute diarrhea in children, and also has some effects in chronic functional diarrhea, radiation-induced diarrhea, and chemotherapy-induced diarrhea. Another absorbent agent used for the treatment of mild diarrhea is kaopectate. Racecadotril an antisecretory medication may be used to treat diarrhea in children and  adults. It has better tolerability than loperamide, as it causes less constipation and flatulence. However, it has little benefit in improving acute diarrhea in children.Bile acid sequestrants such as cholestyramine can be effective in chronic diarrhea due to bile acid malabsorption. Therapeutic trials of these drugs are indicated in chronic diarrhea if bile acid malabsorption cannot be diagnosed with a specific test, such as SeHCAT retention. Alternative therapies
Zinc supplementation may benefit children over six months old with diarrhea in areas with high rates of malnourishment or zinc deficiency. This supports the World Health Organization guidelines for zinc, but not in the very young. A Cochrane Review from 2020 concludes that probiotics make little or no difference to people who have diarrhoea lasting 2 days or longer and that there is no proof that they reduce its duration. The probiotic lactobacillus can help prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea in adults but possibly not children. For those with lactose intolerance, taking digestive enzymes containing lactase when consuming dairy products often improves symptoms.
Hand washing
Basic sanitation techniques can have a profound effect on the transmission of diarrheal disease. The implementation of hand washing using soap and water, for example, has been experimentally shown to reduce the incidence of disease by approximately 30–48%. Hand washing in developing countries, however, is compromised by poverty as acknowledged by the CDC: "Handwashing is integral to disease prevention in all parts of the world; however, access to soap and water is limited in a number of less developed countries. This lack of access is one of many challenges to proper hygiene in less developed countries." Solutions to this barrier require the implementation of educational programs that encourage sanitary behaviours. Water
Given that water contamination is a major means of transmitting diarrheal disease, efforts to provide clean water supply and improved sanitation have the potential to dramatically cut the rate of disease incidence. In fact, it has been proposed that we might expect an 88% reduction in child mortality resulting from diarrheal disease as a result of improved water sanitation and hygiene. Similarly, a meta-analysis of numerous studies on improving water supply and sanitation shows a 22–27% reduction in disease incidence, and a 21–30% reduction in mortality rate associated with diarrheal disease.Chlorine treatment of water, for example, has been shown to reduce both the risk of diarrheal disease, and of contamination of stored water with diarrheal pathogens. Vaccination
Immunization against the pathogens that cause diarrheal disease is a viable prevention strategy, however it does require targeting certain pathogens for vaccination.