Diarrhea - causes, measures and prevention

Diarrhea is a condition that goes beyond loose stools three or more times a day, with symptoms associated with vomiting, dehydration, electrolyte disorders, if not treated promptly, can lead to death.

The disease can spread quickly and cause large epidemics, especially in densely populated areas, sharing drinking water and daily life. The disease often breaks out in the summer, when the weather is hot and humid, it is a favorable condition for pathogens to develop. This year, diarrhea has appeared in Ho Chi Minh City and there are deaths.

Reason

The disease spreads through the gastrointestinal tract through contaminated food and water .

According to the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), there are many causes of diarrheal diseases, including viruses, bacteria and the most dangerous cause of cholera diarrhea (also called cholera). . The disease is spread by gastrointestinal tract through food, drinking water contaminated, the disease is closely related to environmental conditions, water, food safety and hygiene habits of the people.

1. People at high risk of diarrhea: People who eat and live close to those who are susceptible to diarrhea if they do not apply preventive measures; people living in areas using unhygienic latrines, dumping directly into sewers, ditches, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams .; use of polluted water.
2. People who have an unhygienic eating habit , or eat raw vegetables, seafood that are not cooked well are also at risk. In addition, people living in flooded and post-flooded areas are also susceptible to disease.

Symptoms of the disease

The disease has some typical symptoms of abdominal distension, abdominal pain;continuous diarrhea, many times .

1. The disease has some typical symptoms of abdominal distension, abdominal pain; continuous diarrhea, many times, at the beginning of loose stools, after the whole water (in case of cholera: all muddy water is distributed like rice water).
2. Vomiting: first vomit food, then vomit only clear or pale yellow water.
3. People who are exhausted, may suffer cramps, manifest mild to severe dehydration such as thirst, dry skin, wrinkled, emaciated, sunken eyes, fast vessels, lower blood pressure, sometimes not measuring blood pressure, less urination or anuria, cold limbs . and can lead to death.

How to prevent diarrhea

To prevent disease, the Department of Preventive Medicine recommends that people and communities need:

Clean personal hygiene to prevent diarrhea.(Illustration).

Enhance personal hygiene and environmental sanitation: Wash your hands often with soap and clean water, especially before eating and after going to the toilet. Each family has hygienic latrines, does not defecate indiscriminately, does not dump waste, and dumps into ponds and lakes, does not use fresh manure, and untreated manure to ensure hygiene for fertilizing crops. Ensure home hygiene and surrounding environment, limit access to areas where epidemics are available.

Ensuring food safety and hygiene: To eat cooked, drink cooked, not to drink water, not to eat easily-processed and cooked-contaminated foods, raw foods such as fish salad, soup . Choose to buy food from safe food sources, with clear origin and origin, do not use expired food. Cooked food or leftover food, must be preserved well before meals to the next meal, if used only after a short time, cover the table, keep it cool and ventilated, if you want to For a long time (a few hours or more), the refrigerator must be put in, keeping in mind that the refrigerator must be kept at a sufficiently cool level. Wash your hands with soap before preparing food to make sure not to infect germs from dirty hands to food; restricting the concentration of eating and drinking, such as funerals, death anniversary ceremonies, weddings, festivals . in the area where the epidemic is in progress

Protect water sources and use clean water: the sources of drinking and daily-life water of families must be kept clean and covered with lids, not to let dirty water from outside such as ponds, lakes, rivers and streams . flow into. In areas where there is no tap water and there is diarrhea, all drinking water must be disinfected with chloramin B. Prohibit the disposal of faeces, waste, washing water and supplies of patients into wells, ponds and lakes , River.

Management when a person has acute diarrhea: must be taken immediately to the nearest medical facility for timely counseling and treatment, not to let patients stay at home or buy self-medication because it can be dangerous to count Network and spread disease outbreaks to families and communities.