The weather is getting cooler and recently there have been more children with fall diarrhea (rotavirus diarrhea). How to deal with children with diarrhea? (a) Understanding diarrhea Diarrhea is not exactly called a disease, but can be considered a symptom. And don’t rush to give your child antidiarrheal medication unless your doctor directs you to use it. What parents need to know is that diarrhea is not always a bad thing. Diarrhea can also be seen as a protective response of the human body to fight off infection. When bacteria and viruses enter the body’s digestive system, the body excretes them by means of diarrhea. Therefore, if antidiarrheal drugs are used prematurely, the body’s natural defenses will be thwarted, supporting the overproliferation of pathogens in the body and aggravating the disease, so that proper diarrhea is not always a bad thing. In addition, diarrhea is not necessarily caused by digestive system diseases, such as pneumonia in children with pneumonia, diarrhea can occur because the body’s digestive function is affected or even disturbed. (B) What are the causes of diarrhea? Diarrhea in children is not only caused by eating something dirty (bacterial infection), but also by viral infections, such as rotavirus diarrhea; diarrhea caused by indigestion due to improper diet such as overeating; diarrhea caused by lactose intolerance, etc. (3) What can we do for our children when they have diarrhea? 1. Observe the nature and number of stools: It is important to see what the stool looks like. If it is a paste or (in children) there are undigested milk flaps in the stool, the amount is not large, it is not watery or mucus-purulent stool, you can temporarily not deal with it and observe it. If it is a watery change, each time the amount of a lot, or the naked eye see mucus or blood, should immediately go to the hospital for laboratory tests stool. 2, collect the child stool has skills: if the child just diarrhea, can not judge the condition, the child looks good spirit, can eat and play, the face is not bad. You can collect the child’s stool into a plastic bag and send it to the nearest hospital for laboratory tests immediately, not more than half an hour. If the first test is normal, do not trust the results of a test, such as convenient, you can send one or two more times to see. 3, observe whether the child is dehydrated: if the child cries with few or no tears, coupled with little urine, it means that dehydration is very serious and the child should be given rehydration immediately. If the child does not vomit, you can feed the child oral rehydration salt (commercially available, 80 cents a bag), or temporary feeding some light sugar saline. If the vomiting is very serious and the child cannot eat, he/she needs to go to the hospital to receive fluids. Also pay attention to whether the child has a fever, if the temperature exceeds 38.5 degrees or more, to choose the appropriate antipyretic drugs. 4, diarrhea does not need fasting Some people say that when a child has diarrhea, he needs to be hungry so that the intestines can get proper rest, this statement can not be said to be completely wrong, but small children can not tolerate hunger, and may aggravate dehydration. So, for children with diarrhea, if they are breastfed, continue to feed them, and for milk-fed children, dilute them or switch to lactose-free milk powder (diarrhea milk powder) for a while. For older children, stop the milk and meat and eggs, and eat lightly, just some thin rice or noodle soup. The general principle is that there is no need for starvation therapy, and certainly not too full, not hungry do not hard feed. 5, we need to make the following observations in addition to observing the stool properties and number of times, which can be provided to the doctor. Take the child’s temperature and see if there is a rash or other abnormal manifestations on the body See if the diarrhea appears before or after the fever. Look at the child’s mental appearance for poor spirits, bouts of crying, little urination, vomiting, etc. (iv) How to administer medication? (1) Gastric mucosal protective drugs can be preferred: whether infectious or non-infectious, you can first use some gastric mucosal protective drugs, such as the well-known Simethicone (montelukast), which not only has a strong covering ability for the digestive tract mucosa, but also can adsorb pathogens. It is mainly used for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, especially for children with viral diarrhea (e.g. autumn diarrhea), but it is not a substitute for antibiotics because it has no bactericidal effect. But be careful to read the instructions (drink on an empty stomach to be effective) (2) oral rehydration salts. Many parents ask for injections when they see their children with diarrhea, but in fact, the biggest fear of diarrhea is dehydration. You can buy oral rehydration salts and prepare them according to the instructions. If the child is under two years old, he or she needs to be fed after dilution. (3) Microecological preparations: When a child has diarrhea, oral administration is not recommended in the acute phase. This type of medicine is mostly used for diarrhea caused by oral antibiotics, or chronic diarrhea, which can be properly supplemented with beneficial flora at the same time to inhibit the overproduction of harmful flora and adjust the microecological imbalance in the body. Such as bifidobacteria, lactobacilli intestinal agents, etc., to facilitate recovery. (4) Gastric motivation drugs, such as morphine, when the child suddenly vomits severely and can not eat, first observe the child’s situation, if even water vomits, no abdominal pain, bloody stools, after ruling out surgical diseases can be short-term use of this drug once or twice for observation. This medicine should be taken 15 minutes before meals. Because these drugs may cause neurological side effects in small children, they should be used under medical supervision for children under 1 year of age. This medication is contraindicated in older children with gastrointestinal bleeding, intestinal obstruction or perforation. It needs to be used under the guidance of a doctor. (5) anti-diarrheal drugs try not to use: these drugs increase intestinal tension, inhibit intestinal peristalsis, so that the intestinal contents delayed, clinical doctors used for severe, difficult to control diarrhea. Such as diphenoxylate (phenylephrine), but these drugs have more side effects and are prohibited in the pharmacopoeia for children under 2 years old. Doctors will use them for a short period of time depending on the situation, and parents should not use them privately. (6) Antibiotic selection: For clear bacterial infections, antibiotics must be used. Compound neurontin, haloperidol (norfloxacin), gentamicin are effective for intestinal bacteria, but for children, especially small children, because of relatively more side effects, these drugs are basically not used, clinically we usually use rifaximin, calcium fosfomycin or cephalosporin III more. (7) After recovering from the acute phase of diarrhea, you can appropriately supplement trace elements such as zinc and folic acid for a week or two to help the repair of intestinal mucosa. (5) When to go to the hospital? If parents initially judge that the child’s diarrhea symptoms are not serious, the child is in good spirits, there are no symptoms of dehydration, and the child can eat and play, you can temporarily not go to the hospital. When the following conditions occur, go to the hospital immediately 1.Severe vomiting, unable to eat. 2.Paroxysmal crying, little urination, vomiting, etc. Very poor spirits and change in color. 3.Severe diarrhea with a large amount each time, or a lot of times, send the child to the hospital while bringing the stool collection to the hospital in time. 4.Children less than one year old 5.Obvious mucus stool or pus and blood stool.