Perspectives on oral hydration therapy in Guatemala
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perspectives, oral hydration therapy, GuatemalaAbstract
It has been estimated that dehydration is the cause of 60-70% of diarrheal deaths in children. In 1980, 10 children under 5 years of age died every minute worldwide, especially among the poorest families. Acute diarrheal diseases are therefore one of the leading causes of child mortality in developing countries like Guatemala.
Dehydration due to diarrhea of any etiology can be prevented at the household level by giving children with diarrhea additional fluids. Likewise, most cases of dehydration in people of any age can be treated effectively and inexpensively with the oral administration of a properly prepared glucose-electrolyte solution.
This administration of oral fluids is called Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT). This therapy includes appropriate feeding practices during diarrhea and thus reduces the number of child deaths. For this reason, it is the primary strategy recommended by the ONIS Diarrheal Disease Control (DDC) program to reduce mortality related to diarrhea and malnutrition.
ORT can be provided using prepackaged salts, home-prepared solutions, or commercial solutions prepared in pharmaceutical laboratories; all play an important role in the treatment of diarrhea.
Oral rehydration salt (ORS) sachets have been distributed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UN ICEF) in support of OLT. The available annual supply (approximately 200 million) is only enough to treat about 10% of all cases of diarrhea in children worldwide, so there is an urgent need to accelerate ORS production and disseminate more information about early home-based treatment.
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Organización Mundial de la Salud. Sales de Rehidratación Oral: planificación, establecimiento y operación de las instalaciones de producción. Versión revisada y ampliada (WHO/CDD/SER/80.3)
INCAP. Avances en supervivencia Infantil. Principios de la absorción de agua y electrolitos de las sales de rehidratación oral. Vol. 4, No. 4, Agosto 1986.
AHRTAG. Diálogo sobre la Diarrea. No. 25-29, Dic. 1987.
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Copyright (c) 1988 Luis Gálvez Sanchinelli
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