Water and Food Poisoning Due to Bad Sanitation

Inappropriate sewage disposal may result in contamination of drinking water with human and animal stools containing viruses, bacteria or parasites. Drinking or swimming in such water is the main source of stomach and bowel infections in tropical areas.

If water, contaminated with microbes, is used for watering fields, crops get contaminated. Improper food storing (no cooling) and bad hygiene (no hand washing) are additional causes of food poisoning with bacteria or parasites. Infestation with intestinal worms, a huge health problem in rural tropical areas, can be attracted by walking barefoot, or swimming in contaminated rivers and lakes.

continue reading Prevention and Treatment of Bowel Infections in Tropical Areas

What Causes Diarrhea in Small Children?

The main cause of diarrhea in children under 5 years of age is rotavirus that causes gastroenteritis – an inflammation of the inner layer of the stomach and small intestine.

Symptoms of Stomach Flu

Symptoms of a rotavirus infection resemble influenza – from here the term stomach flu. There is no connection between stomach flu and influenza, though. Symptoms of stomach flu (viral diarrhea) include:

• Fever, headache, followed by..
• ..watery diarrhea and vomiting that appear 1-2 days after the infection and usually last for 3-8 days (1).
• Symptoms of dehydration: drowsiness or restlessness, thirst (which may not necessary be present!), decreased urination or, in severe cases, sunken eyes, sunken fontanel, and decreased consciousness.
• In the Western world, rotavirus diarrhea is usually a mild disease, but in some parts of Africa, Middle and South America and south Asia over 1 million of children dye from it each year, mainly from dehydration.

continue reading Viral Diarrhea in Small Children – Stomach Flu Symptoms, Treatment