The Global Burden of Diarrhea
Diarrhea is extremely common health problem all over the world, including in the developed countries. In the developing countries diarrhea is one of the leading cause of mortality and morbidity, especially among infants of below one year of age and children below five years. Diarrhea exerts an enormous toll in terms of mortality, morbidity, social inconvenience, loss of work and productivity, and utilization of medical resources of a nation. In developing countries acute infectious diarrhea is one of the common cause of mortality, especially among children below five years of age and estimated to cause 2-3 million deaths every year. Diarrhea is one of the common cases faced by doctors in developing countries.
It is estimated that each year more than one billion individuals suffer from one or more episodes of diarrhea all over the world. In the United States approximately 100 million individuals suffer from acute diarrhea annually and at least half of them (50 million) need to restrict their activities, although only 10% of them seek medical attention. Out of them approximately 250,000 need hospitalization with 5000 deaths annually, especially among elderly patients. It is estimated that the annually more than $20 billions are spent for treatment of diarrhea in United States alone and the global burden can be huge.
Diarrhea can be just nuisance in one end, but can be life threatening on the other, especially among children and elderly if not treated properly with replacement of fluid and electrolytes. Therefore if is important to treat the acute cases of all types of diarrhea as early as possible (especially among children and elderly) with fluid and electrolyte replacement. Initiating early treatment in children and elderly with diarrhea can save millions of lives every year in developing countries.
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