Gastroenteritis and children

CHIOMA did not know what had gone wrong with her three- month old baby, as she started stooling and vomitting simultaneously. And within the hour, the baby had stooled countless times. Chioma, who happened to be a first timer, when it comes to nursing a child did not know what she could do that early hours of the day. Firstly, she had to stop breadfeeding her baby due to the fact that she heard from one of her friends,that breastfeeding should be discontinued anytime a mother notices that her baby starts stooling, owing to the belief that the stooling comes with tooth-cutting and should not be stopped.

And on stopping breastfeeding, her baby within 2 hours became floppy. Then, she was rushed to the hospital where she was given intravenous supplements to restore fluid already lost by her.

Lively kids, playingTypical are the many losses of children’s lives, which if adequate precautions and hygienic way of life had been adhered to, would have been averted. Gastroentritis is one of the common infections experienced by people of all ages but is so prevalent among children.

In an interview with Dr. Iyabo Kareem, a medical officer at Oni Memorial Children Hospital, Ibadan, on what Gastroentritis in children is, to the understanding of an average man, she simply put it as an infection of the stomach and the intestines(gastrointestinal tract) ,which is associated with frequent stooling and vomitting in children.
According to her, gastroenteritis is one of the leading causes of infant deaths worldwide, especially in those less than six(6) months of age.

The disease is so prevalent among children because it can majorly be contracted through the mouth (faeco-oral). And children, for who they are, are in the habit of picking anything and head straight for the mouth with whatever it is they have picked, exposing them to this infection.This is not to say children are not to be allowed to play, but that much work has to be done by their mothers in terms of ascertaining the hygienic condition of where and what they play with.

On whether it can spread, the medical practitioner said it is not contagious, since it is not an airborne disease. But that under unhygienic condition(s), it can be contracted.

Children can get infected from eating or drinking food that is contaminated with virus,bacteria or even parasites but, it can be prevented if some measures are taken by mother(s). And according to Dr. Kareem, firstly, exclusive breastfeeding for six months stands to prevent the infection from attacking the child,as breast milk helps building the child’s immune system.

Also, she added that mothers are to discourage the use of feeding bottles for their babies because of the simple reason that the inside of the bottles are almost impossible to wash, thus exposing it to the infection(s).

Baby formula, though made for babies, should be discouraged before six( 6) months of the baby’s life, as it also predisposes the infection in babies, she submitted.
Stressing the importance of personal hygiene of mothers as a way of preventing gastroentritis in children, Dr. Kareem said, cleanliness in all ways possible cannot be compromised,especially by mothers, if the infection is not going to be an unwelcomed guest of their children.

Children are to be bathed regularly, taught that washing of hands after the use of toilet is essential. Also, washing of hands before and after cooking, good waste disposal, among others, are ways of ensuring good health condition not only for the children, but for all the members of one’s household.

On the symptoms or physical presentations of gastroenteritis in children, the expert said, the mother begins to notice that her child’s stool becomes watery, that is, watery diarrhoea. The stool can also have blood and mucuous. When it becomes chronic, the stool continues for more than two weeks.

Apart from the stooling,the Doctor said that the child would no longer feed well, vomit, have increase in body temperature and get dehydrated. The dehydration is the loss of body fluid resulting from the stooling and vomitting.

And for you to know that your child is dehydrated, he exhibits the following symptoms, as explained in a medical write-up; floppiness, sunken soft spot of the scalp, dry lips and mouth, less wet nappies than usual, due to less urine produced by the baby’s kidneys, pale skin, among others. And under the condition of dehydration, according to Dr. Kareem, the home treatment that should be done by the mother is to replace the fluid the child had lost by giving the child Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS). ORS is a salt-sugar solution which can either be prepared at home by mothers or bought from pharmacies and given to the child to boost his strength while preparing to take the child to the hospital for adequate treatment.

For a child who already has gastroentritis and is still breastfeeding, the breastfeeding should not be discontinued,as was the mistake made by Chioma.This is because the breastmilk is necessary for the child to regain lost fluid and nutrients. And for those who have gone past that age, more fluid intake should be encouraged, while other symptoms are treated as they appear, because there is no specific treatment for gastroenteritis, she concluded.