Diarrheal Disease A Global Health Disease

Diarrheal Disease A Global Health Disease

Introduction

The second primary cause of death in children having age less than five is the Diarrheal disease. It has been observed that approximately 760,000 children are being killed yearly due to this disease (www.who.int). In this disease, the body loses water, salts and minerals that are essential for survival. In diarrhea, the death occurs actually due to fluid loss and acute dehydration. The risk of severe diarrhea is the most in those children who suffer from malnutrition or have weak immunity system plus people having AIDS.

Discussion

Diarrhea can be defined as the passage of frequent liquid or loose stools per day. The breastfed babies pass out pasty loose stools but that is not included in diarrhea as it is normal situation. A variety of viral, bacterial and parasitic organisms cause infection in the intestinal tract which in turn, results in diarrhea (www.path.org). This infection can be transmitted through person to person or contaminated drinking water and food.

The precautions for the prevention of diarrhea include pure and safe drinking water, proper hand washing with antibacterial soap and better sanitation. The solution of hygienic water, salt and sugar, or zinc tablets is the remedy of diarrhea. The diarrhea is of three clinical types which are acute watery diarrhea, acute bloody diarrhea and persistent diarrhea. Acute watery diarrhea can last quite a lot of hours or days in which cholera is also included. The second type which is acute bloody diarrhea is also known as dysentery. The persistent diarrhea lasts longer (minimum 14 days).

The top cause of child morbidity and mortality in the whole world is the diarrheal disease which mostly occurs due to unhygienic foodstuff and water. In a worldwide report, it has been observed that about 2.5 billion people lack better ...