Gastro another threat after dengue

“Food should be cooked until it is hot throughout; eat food while it is still hot, or reheat it thoroughly before eating. Breast-feeding of infants and young children should be promoted. Infants and children who are breast-fed have fewer episodes of diarrhoea or dysentery; when these do occur, they are less severe than in those who are not breast-fed. This protection is greatest in infants who are exclusively breast-fed until 4-6 months of age, but remains significant when breast-milk is given with other foods, even into the third year of life,” she maintained.

As per international organisations, working in the health sector, risk factors involve consumption of improperly prepared foods or contaminated water and travelling or residing in areas of poor sanitation.

Globally, gastroenteritis caused 4.6 million deaths among children alone in 1980, mostly in the third world.

Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine estimates the current total figure to be 2.4 to 2.9 million per year. The global death rate has now come down significantly to approximately 1.5 million deaths annually, largely due to global introduction of proper oral re-hydration therapy. The incidence in the developed countries is as high as 1-2.5 cases per child per year and a major cause of hospitalisation in this age group.