Dehydration is very common among children and can be life-threatening, particularly when caused by diarrhoea or gastroenteritis.

In South Africa, diarrhoeal disease is the primary cause of death in children under the age of five. Prof Duncan Steele, Director of the MRC Diarrhoeal Pathogens Research Unit of the University of MEDUNSA, says it's believed to be the cause of 160 to 200 deaths per day.

Statistics of the City of Cape Town's health department show that 11% of children under five died of gastroenteritis in the greater Cape Town area in 2005. And according to the World Health Organization, four to five million children die each year from diarrhoea in Africa, Asia, Latin America and India. This high incidence is usually associated with contaminated food and water and unhygienic conditions in poverty-stricken communities.

Babies and toddlers have a small body mass and lose fluids and electrolytes more rapidly than adults when they're dehydrated. Causes of dehydration range from gastroenteritis with persistent vomiting or diarrhoea to high unrelenting fever, excessive sweating and overexposure to the sun or heat without sufficient fluid replacement.

Early detection of symptoms is essential in the prevention and treatment of dehydration. Use this table to check for dehydration levels in children:

Clinical signs	Severity: slight	Severity: moderate	Severity: severe
General conditions	Thirst/agitation	Thirst/agitation/irritability	Bent over/sleepiness/coma
Pulse	Normal	Rapid/weak	Rapid/weak
Front fontanel	Normal	Sunken	Very sunken
Eyes	Normal	Sunken	Very sunken
Tears	Present	Absent	Absent
Urine	Normal	Reduced in volume, concentrated	No urine for several hours
Weight loss	4% - 5%	6% - 9%	10% or more

- (Health24, May 2008)

Advertisement

 

Print this article

Rate this article Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent

JOBS

Senior Secretary Gauteng - North/Sandton Infrastructure Resource Gauteng - Johannesburg Management Accountant R450,000-500,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial Manager R350,000-400,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial and Project Accountant R300,000-360,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial Accountant R380,000-420,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg SSIS Business Intelligence Specialists (SSIS; SSAS) R350,000-500,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - North/Sandton Financial Accountant R350,000-450,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - South Find more jobs Register your CV Post a job