Research conducted in a community clinic in Nicaragua demonstrates that green tea and pomegranate extract combined with a standard oral rehydration solution help children with diarrhoea improve faster.
The study involved 61 children, 2 to 17 years of age, who had uncontrolled diarrhea in the previous 48 hours. All patients received an oral rehydration solution for 2 days.
In addition, 30 patients received the extract on day 1. The remaining 31 children, serving as the control group, received the extract on day 2.
Researchers observed patients in the first 24 hours and rated their bowel movements on the Bristol Stool Scale (BSS).
Results showed the average time to achieve a BSS score of 4 or less was significantly shorter in the extract group than in the control group.
In addition, a BSS score of 4 or less in the first bowel movement after treatment was achieved by more patients in the extract group than the control group (60% verses 29%). BSS scores in the extract group were maintained on day 2.
Research conducted in ICDDR’B in 2010 shows that, “a single- dose azithromycin has been established as an effective drug for the treatment of cholera caused by susceptible strains of Vibrio cholera in both adults and children.”
Signs and symptoms
Acute diarrhoea is defined as the abrupt onset of 3 or more loose stools per day and lasts no longer than 14 days; chronic or persistent diarrhoea is defined as an episode that lasts longer than 14 days.
The distinction has implications not only for classification and
epidemiologic studies but also from a practical standpoint, because protracted diarrhoea often has different etiologies, poses
 different management
problems, and has a different prognosis.
The clinical presentation and course of diarrhoea therefore depend on its cause and on the host. Consider the following to determine the source/cause of the patient’s diarrhoea:
Stool characteristics (eg, consistency, color, volume, frequency)
Presence of associated enteric symptoms (eg, nausea/vomiting, fever, abdominal pain)
Food ingestion history (eg, raw/contaminated foods, food poisoning)  
Travel history (common pathogens affect specific regions; also consider rotavirus and Shigella, Salmonella, and Campylobacter spp regardless of specific travel history, as these organisms are prevalent worldwide)
Animal exposure (eg, young dogs/cats: Campylobacter spp; turtles: Salmonella )
Predisposing conditions
(eg, hospitalization, antibiotic use, immunocompromised state)
Compiled by: Dr Wrishi Raphael