[Management of acute gastroenteritis in children]

Acute gastroenteritis is one of the most common infection among children. An estimated 500 million children suffer from the condition worldwide each year. In developed countries the course of acute infectious diarrhea is relatively mild, symptoms usually resolve spontaneously within few days. Unfortunately high mortality rate is still a heavyweight problem in countries with low economic development. Acute diarrhea is defined as a change of the consistency of stools to loose or liquid and/ or increase of an amount of defecations to more than 3 during a day. Other symptoms of gastroenteritis include fever, nausea and vomiting. The most common cause of AGE are viruses, with rotavirus being the most frequent agent. The diagnose is based on medical interview, that include mainly precise information about duration and characteristic of occurred symptoms and epidemiological data. The most important part of diagnostic and therapeutic management is dehydration's assessment, which determine the severity of AGE and is used as one of the factors that decide about hospital admission. The majority of patients can be treated in an outpatients settings, hospitalization should be reserved for those requiring enteral or parenteral rehydration. Oral rehydration with hypoosmolar fluids is standard first-line treatment. Other effective procedures include administration of probiotics (Lactobacillus GG , Saccharomyces boulardii), racecadotril and diosmectite as antidiarrheals and ondansetron reducing the intensity of nausea and vomiting. Antibiotherapy should be only considered in exceptional situations. Acute diarrhea is commonly known medical problem, which can be easily treated by following simple, well-defined rules.