Healthy Living gets to the heart of stomach problems

Dr. Cecilio Eck

It is inflammation of the lining of the intestines caused by a virus, bacteria or parasites. It can affect anyone especially children. Gastroenteritis is not an acute health problem, but can lead to dehydration. The best way to prevent it, is to keep your hands clean. Healthy Living has a look at belly aches.

Marleni Cuellar, Reporting

Children learn at a very early age the importance of washing their hands to eliminate germs. Despite this knowledge, one of the main conditions children often develop is a direct result of poor hygiene. Belly-ache, diarrhea and vomiting, is a combination of symptoms that is associated with an infection in the stomach or bowels. Pediatrician, Dr. Cecilio Eck helps us to understand what you need to know about gastroenteritis.

Dr. Cecilio Eck, Pediatrician

“It is very, very, very contagious. It usually spreads stool to mouth. By  that I mean in cases with the parents whose child would have diarrhea, the mom would change the diaper not wash their hands properly and then go eat a piece of food and infect herself or some other child at home because of this being very contagious usually when one family member gets it the entire family gets it. With gastroenteritis the common symptoms would be vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and in most cases a low grade fever. Commonly as well even prior to any of these symptoms is belly pain colic-y belly pain.”

The frequency of these symptoms does require a medical practitioner to rule out any other causes.

Dr. Cecilio Eck

“The dangerous ones that we have to rule out could be appendicitis, which could present belly pain, vomiting, fever and even diarrhea and hence the importance of coming into be checked, to be examined if the symptoms persist  or if any of the danger signs would come up.”

The primary cause of gastroenteritis is the Rota Virus; it can also be a result of salmonella or an organism called amoeba. As a result of the ease of transmission, the need for enhanced sanitation practices is necessary.

Dr. Cecilio Eck

“The first rule is the last rule, wash your hands. If you haven’t had it, you wash your hands properly. If someone at home has it, whoever takes care of them wash your hands after they’ve dealt with that person. And that is the number one rule. With kids try and Separate the sick ones from the well ones because you know that they’ll infect each other very quickly because they can’t wash their hands or keep it sterile.”

While gastroenteritis is hardly a deadly disease; extreme dehydration is a result of the condition, is. This is why the most crucial part of treatment is to rehydrate the body which is accompanied by a ‘sugar warning.’

Dr. Cecilio Eck

“With treatment the first rule would be rehydrate. The fluids that you use would be pedialite, fresh coconut water not the bottle type or the ones in the tin, because they have added sugar. We have oral rehydration fluid. How you give the fluid is as important as which fluids to give by that I mean the stomach is already very, very sore or bruised if you put a lot of anything in there it will contract and you will vomit it out. So how to give is very tiny amounts. In a one year maybe an ounce at a time, wait ten-fifteen minutes then give another ounce. As long as the baby starts to take that without vomiting that is the first step in treatment. The things you should avoid are anything sweet. So the list would include sugar and water, mint tea, syrup, honey, juices, fruit juices, soda, especially not sprite, people like to give hot sprite. The Gatorade even that is too sweet. The problem with it is that when you have infection in the gut, the villi, the little projections in the stomach that absorb fluid literally the ends shear off and the gut becomes very, very ineffective in absorbing sugars. When you put anything sweet in the gut it literally pulls water out of the body into the gut and it makes the diarrhea very profuse.”

Dr. Eck points out that there is a burst of cases when school is in session. He adds that salmonella and amoebas can be treated through antibiotics and anti parasitic drugs, respectively. There is a vaccine available against the Rota virus; however, it is not included in the vaccination schedule, as is the case in America & Europe. At a cost of four hundred dollars per vaccine, it can be purchased and administered at private institutions like the pediatric center. He does offer the following advice to parents about gastroenteritis.

Dr. Cecilio Eck

“The danger signs in any kid would be one; if even tiny amounts of fluids the kid continues to vomit. Two; if the child has such a profuse diarrhea that you can’t replace enough orally to replace what he or she is losing or thirdly if you have signs of dehydration and these include, sunken eyes, no saliva in the mouth, no urine a kid who is very lethargic and out of it and doesn’t even want to wake up to drink water. If that happens and even if you have medication at home, even if you’ve seen a doctor already get to the nearest hospital because that is severe dehydration and life threatening.”