Posts Tagged ‘deaths due to diarrhea’
Definition of Diarrhea
Diarrhea affects all races, sexes, ages and geographic regions worldwide. Water and sanitation play a crucial role in the
transmission of diarrheal disease. These environmental factors contribute to approximately 94% of the 4.000 million cases of diarrhea WHO estimates occur annually worldwide. Children under 5 years in developing countries are most affected and represent a majority of the 1,500 million annual deaths due to diarrhea. In Latin America and the Caribbean, about 77,600 children under age 5 die each year from diarrhea and the consequences of it, which means more than 200 deaths a day. While 16 of the 33 countries in the region are on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals United Nations with respect to sanitation and clean water, have yet to meet the sanitation needs of 8.4 million people, and in the case of drinking water of 6.1 million. (September 2007, data from the Population Reference Bureau in the U.S.)
The medical definition of diarrhea involves more than three stools a day or increase the amount of stool more than 200 g / 24 h in subjects adults.2 The patient perceives this as a decrease in stool consistency urgent causes and / or abdominal discomfort. This desire to evacuate, often uncontrollable, often the only or main problem, often accompanied by colic and 3 depending on the etiology, may be accompanied by mucus, pus or blood in the stool. Acute diarrhea is considered if the duration is less than 2-4 weeks and when the picture chronic diarrhea lasts more than four weeks