Oral Rehydration Salts
New formulation of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS)
Two decades ago diarrhea was responsible for around 5 million deaths annually. Through major public health efforts primarily aimed at preventing and treating dehydration this figure has decreased to around 2 million deaths. Prevention of dehydration is primarily achieved by ensuring that children with diarrhea are provided with more fluids than usual, and/or increased frequency of breastfeeding, during the acute episode. The combination of increased home fluids and the use of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) for the treatment of dehydration have proven to be a very powerful intervention for the prevention of childhood deaths from diarrhea.