La diarrea y la malnutrición infantil

Abstract

The paper deals with the importance of distinguishing between the chronic diarrhea of malnutrition, which responds promptly to proper diet, and the acute superimposed diarrhea, which requires a treatment similar to that used for eutrophic children. Sodium solutions should be employed to correct hypovolemia, with or without concomitant edema; potassium solutions should be used even before the time they are used for eutrophic cases, and a proper diet should be instituted promply. One must be alert to the possibility of septicemia and/or pyelonephritis. Prolonged intestinal malbsorption may be due to a temporary reduction of lactase or to the presence of Giardia lablia. A study was made of the nutrition requirements of malnourished infants and of the rate of growth during recovery. The experience obtained from treating 100 malnourished infants, almost all of which suffered from diarrhea, was applied to the ambulatory treatment of over 500 cases of diarrhea in a rural area with a high incidence of malnutrition. The administration of solutions for several hours, by the endovenous or oral route, or both, was a successful treatment of the large majority of the cases. It is, however, important to distinguish those who suffer from diarrhea due to hunger, as these only require a suitable diet