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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Small Child, Passing Frequent Soft Stools. Taking Smecta, Probiotics. Suggestions?

Hi...my daughter is 5 yo...since yesterday she keeps on passing motion from after dinner time ,about 5 times interval 5-10 mins.it is not diarrhea but soft blobs and the last time was more like powdery dark brown.there was no pain.today is d 2nd day..we gave a dose of smecta before dinner and treat her with pre and probiotics.can u pls help us understand y this is happening.her normal bowel movement is once a day.
Fri, 28 Dec 2012
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General & Family Physician 's  Response
Hello,
Thanks for posting your worries.
First let me start by defining diarrhea according to WHO. It is the passing out of more than 3 watery or loose/soft stools or more than 200g of watery or loose/soft stools per day. Per your description your doctor is most likely having diarrhea and since there is no fever we term it a non-febrile gastroenteritis. The most frequent cause in children being viral ( rotavirus), then bacterial, fungi, amoeba/protozoa, and toxins from food, water, liquids/chemical fluids etc. WHO does not recommend the use of antidiarrhea such as smecta and rather recommend rehydration your daughter with oral rehydration solution ( mixture of salt, sugar and water or readily prepared over the counter Oral rehydration salt/ORACEL/ORS). This you need to give the child to drink freely to keep electrolyte and water balance and prevent dehydration. If child is moderately to severely dehydrated already, you will need IV fluids. Simultaneously, your child needs her stool examined at the hospital to isolate possible causative agents ( rotavirus would not be seen by this method and if it is the cause, you just need to rehydrate your child and allow for the infection to resolve on its on). A visit to a pediatrician would be beneficial right away.
In your case, i think your daughter is suffering from food poisoning ( toxins by microorganisms found in the food during dinner) and with just oral rehydration, your daughter will recover with a day to 3.

Hope this can help you and your daughter.
Best wishes
Dr Nsah
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Small Child, Passing Frequent Soft Stools. Taking Smecta, Probiotics. Suggestions?

Hello, Thanks for posting your worries. First let me start by defining diarrhea according to WHO. It is the passing out of more than 3 watery or loose/soft stools or more than 200g of watery or loose/soft stools per day. Per your description your doctor is most likely having diarrhea and since there is no fever we term it a non-febrile gastroenteritis. The most frequent cause in children being viral ( rotavirus), then bacterial, fungi, amoeba/protozoa, and toxins from food, water, liquids/chemical fluids etc. WHO does not recommend the use of antidiarrhea such as smecta and rather recommend rehydration your daughter with oral rehydration solution ( mixture of salt, sugar and water or readily prepared over the counter Oral rehydration salt/ORACEL/ORS). This you need to give the child to drink freely to keep electrolyte and water balance and prevent dehydration. If child is moderately to severely dehydrated already, you will need IV fluids. Simultaneously, your child needs her stool examined at the hospital to isolate possible causative agents ( rotavirus would not be seen by this method and if it is the cause, you just need to rehydrate your child and allow for the infection to resolve on its on). A visit to a pediatrician would be beneficial right away. In your case, i think your daughter is suffering from food poisoning ( toxins by microorganisms found in the food during dinner) and with just oral rehydration, your daughter will recover with a day to 3. Hope this can help you and your daughter. Best wishes Dr Nsah