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ORS in diarrhoea: what actually matters

Dehydration is what kills in diarrhoea, not the germ. How to make ORS correctly, when antibiotics are pointless, and the signs that mean hospital now.

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  1. The question

    What matters most in diarrhoea?

    Most people reach for an antibiotic first. In most diarrhoea it is something else that saves lives, and it costs almost nothing.

  2. The numbers

    The actual numbers

    Dehydration, not the germ, is what kills in diarrhoea. Replacing the water and salts the body is losing is the treatment. A packet of ORS costs a few taka.

  3. How to

    Making ORS correctly

    Made wrongly, it can do harm instead of good.

    1. Dissolve the whole packet in half a litre of safe water, as the packet says
    2. Not more or less water, a concentrated solution pulls more water out of the body
    3. Use a made-up solution within 12 hours
    4. Give a little after every loose stool, not one large drink

  4. But

    So are antibiotics never needed?

    Most diarrhoea is viral, where antibiotics do nothing, and taking them anyway is how germs become resistant. Some cases genuinely need them, but a doctor decides that, not a pharmacy counter.

  5. Caution

    When not to wait

    With any of these, keep giving ORS and go to hospital immediately.

    1. Blood in the stool
    2. Repeated vomiting, nothing staying down
    3. Little or no urine, sunken eyes
    4. A child who is limp, unusually sleepy, or fitting

  6. Remember

    The thing to remember

    In diarrhoea the first thing is ORS, not medicine. Keep a few packets at home, and tell your family.

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