Is your child vomiting, having frequent loose, watery stools, having fever, and complaining of stomach pain? Chances are, the little one might be having Acute Gastroenteritis. What is it? Simply, it is an inflammation of both the stomach and intestinal linings, usually caused by rota or adeno viruses, or it might be caused by some bacteria.
If it is plain viral, treatment would be aimed to relieve the symptoms. Prevent dehydration through adequate fluid replacement and anti-pyretics and pain relievers to ease the pain and fever. Viral infections usually last for 5 days to a week, and are self-limited, so anti-virals are usually not given. However, if it is bacterial in nature, then antibiotic therapy must be started and it must be adhered to strictly to be effective.
Acute Gastroenteritis is acquired through oral-fecal route. So one important thing I must emphasize is the usefulness of handwashing, to prevent the spread of infection to other members of the family.
Clean hands are not only good to see, but also good for our health.
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