Title: Treatment of acute infantile diarrhoea with a commercial rice-based oral rehydration solution.

POPLINE Document Number: 125404

Author(s):

Guiraldes E
Trivino X
Hodgson MI
Quintana JC
Quintana C

Source citation:

JOURNAL OF DIARRHOEAL DISEASES RESEARCH, 1995 Dec;13(4):207-11.

Abstract:

A randomized clinical trial compared the efficacy of an oral rehydration solution (ORS) formulated with commercial rice powder at 50 g/l (case group of 13 boys and 11 girls) with that of glucose-based WHO/UNICEF-recommended ORS (control group of 13 boys and 11 girls) in the management of 48 patients aged 3-24 months with acute dehydrating watery diarrhea in the pediatric ward of the Universidad Catolica Clinical Hospital, Chile. Enteropathogens were found in 94% of the patients. Rotavirus was present in 85% of the patients, either as a single pathogen (58%) or in association with other agents (27%). Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) was recovered in 33% of the patients; in 8% of the cases it occurred as a single pathogen and in 25% of the cases it was associated with rotavirus. 7 patients (29%) in the control group and 4 (17%) in the study group required intravenous fluids at some point in the course of the study. Mean fecal losses were generally higher in the rice-ORS patients throughout the study. The stool output (ml/kg) in the first 24 hours was 213 (153-353) [geometric mean (95% confidence interval)] in the rice-ORS group vs. 146 (108-232) in the glucose-ORS group, while the total stool output was 455 (298-933) vs. 307 (209-625) (p value not significant). The mean [+or- standard deviation (SD)] duration of diarrhea in hospital was: 72 +or- 10 hours in the study group vs. 77 +or- 12 hours in the control group (p value not significant). The ORS formulated with a commercial rice powder used in this trial is not superior to the standard glucose-ORS advocated by WHO/UNICEF in the treatment of infants with watery non-cholera dehydrating diarrhea. In some cases, ORS formulated with the commercial cereal-based products might actually increase the stool losses in infants with high-output non-cholera diarrhea.

Keywords:

Chile
Case Control Studies
Clinical Trials
Infant
Oral Rehydration
Diarrhea, Infantile
Treatment
Viral Diseases
WHO
South America, Southern
South America
Latin America
Americas
Developing Countries
Studies
Research Methodology
Clinical Research
Youth
Age Factors
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Population
Diarrhea
Diseases
UN
International Agencies
Organizations