Diarrhoea - a classic!
One of the most common clinical pictures in paediatrics is acute gastroenteritis, i.e. diarrhoea - often accompanied by vomiting and fever.
But when does your child start suffering from acute gastroenteritis? There are two specific signs:
The stools must become significantly softer and more liquid.
The frequency of bowel movements must increase significantly, i.e. more than three per day or at least two more than usual.
The main danger is that a child becomes dehydrated due to diarrhoea and vomiting. And it is precisely these signs of dehydration that you must pay extreme attention to.
The most important thing is that your child should not be excessively lethargic and apathetic and should not appear to have significantly reduced vitality. Urine excretion is also very important. The child may excrete a little less urine - but it should still excrete urine several times a day. The darker the urine, the worse the fluid balance.
Another sign: put your finger in the child's mouth and stroke the mucous membrane on the cheek. If the finger sticks because it is so dry, this is not a good sign. If you notice one or more of these signs, please consult a doctor.
In the end, it doesn't matter which pathogen is responsible. Because there is nothing you can do about it anyway. Exception: If your child has bloody diarrhoea and/or the urine is significantly less, then you should definitely consult a doctor. Because then it can also be decisive what kind of pathogen is behind it.
Otherwise, the treatment is to replace the fluid deficit and the electrolytes that are lost through spitting up and diarrhoea. Ideally, children should drink electrolyte powder dissolved in water. For example, Oralpädon or Elektrotrans. The good old "cola with salt sticks" recipe is only a poor emergency solution. This is because the composition of the salts and sugar is not optimal.
But the most important thing is for the child to drink enough fluids. And if this doesn't work (any more), the gastroenteritis may need to be treated in hospital. The child is then given an infusion, i.e. fluids via the vein, and usually recovers relatively quickly.
As far as medication is concerned, virtually nothing needs to be done, as the effectiveness of the medication is relatively low. Spitting up and diarrhoea are a kind of self-healing of the body, as it gets rid of the viruses in this way and thus becomes healthy again.
The official recommendations no longer state that you have to go on a diet. However, we still recommend that children eat a low-fat diet for a few days, for example drinking less milk, as this is often not well tolerated. And if the child is still breastfeeding, please continue to do so in any case.
Finally, a tricky point: when is the child allowed back into communal facilities? We always say: it should not have vomited for at least 24 to 48 hours. The stool should have become much firmer and the frequency should have decreased significantly. And the child should be more vital and lively again.
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