TREATMENT OF ACUTE INFANTILE DIARRHEA WITH A COMMERCIAL RICE-BASED ORAL REHYDRATION SOLUTION

This randomized clinical trial compared the efficacy of an oral rehydr ation solution (ORS) formulated with commercial rice powder, 50 g/l, w ith that of a glucose-based WHO/UNICEF-recommended ORS in the manageme nt of 48 inpatients aged 3-24 months, with acute dehydrating watery di arrhoea, Stool outputs were generally high in these patients, and 11 p atients (22%) required additional intravenous rehydration solutions, T he stool output (ml/kg) in the first 24 hours was [geometric mean, (95 % confidence intervals)] 213 (153-353) in the rice-ORS group versus 14 6 (108-232) in the glucose-ORS group, while the total stool output was 455 (298-933) versus 307 (209-625); (p value not significant), The me an (+/-SD) duration of diarrhoea in hospital was: 72+/-10 hours in the study group versus 77+/-12 hours in the control group (p value NS), E nteropathogens were found in 94% of the patients, rotavirus being prev alent in 85% of the cases. It is concluded that the rice-ORS used in t his trial is no more efficacious than the standard glucose-ORS advocat ed by WHO/UNICEF in the treatment of infants with watery non-cholera d ehydrating diarrhoea, In some cases, ORS formulated with the commercia l cereal-based products might actually increase the stool losses in in fants with high-output non-cholera diarrhoea.