The impact of systematic use of oral rehydration therapy on outcome in acute diarrheal disease in children

A review of our experience with diarrheal disease (DD) at the University of Istanbul Children's Hospital in Capa, covering the years 1987 to 1989, is presented in this paper. DD is one of the most common conditions encountered among patients presenting to the outpatient clinic (5.9% of all cases). The majority of DD cases were in the four- to 12-month age group. During the surveillance period, summertime peaks in DD were observed, suggesting an increase in bacterial infection. Out of 8749 cases of DD, 5.2% showed severe dehydration. Rates of hospitalization for DD did not show any differences over the three years. However, mortality from DD significantly decreased from 1.15 to 0.57% during this three-year period. This was attributed to more rational use of oral rehydration solutions, as a result of the close monitoring and recording of findings introduced by the protocol of this study. Malnutrition, sepsis, pneumonia, and other severe systemic diseases were found to be the most important risk factors affecting hospitalization and mortality rates. Infants, especially those under three months, had the highest risk for hospitalization and mortality.