Progress and barriers for the control of diarrhoeal disease.
Discovery of intestinal sodium-glucose transport was the basis for development of oral rehydration solution, and was hailed as potentially the most important medical advance of the 20th century. Before widespread use of oral rehydration solution, treatment for diarrhoea was restricted to intravenous fluid replacement, for which patients had to go to a health-care facility to access appropriate equipment. These facilities were usually neither available nor reasonable to use in the resource-poor settings most affected by diarrhoea. Use of oral rehydration solution has stagnated, despite being effective, inexpensive, and widely available. Thus, diarrhoea continues to be a leading cause of child death with consistent mortality rates during the past 5 years. New methods for prevention, management, and treatment of diarrhoea-including an improved oral rehydration formulation, zinc supplementation, and rotavirus vaccines-make now the time to revitalise efforts to reduce diarrhoea mortality worldwide.
Santosham
Mathuram
M
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. msantosh@jhsph.edu
Chandran
Aruna
A
Fitzwater
Sean
S
Fischer-Walker
Christa
C
Baqui
Abdullah H
AH
Black
Robert
R
D000208:Acute Disease; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003906:Developing Countries; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D015532:Rehydration Solutions / Q000737:chemistry; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis
D015532:Rehydration Solutions; D015032:Zinc