It's "stomach flu" season...

Yes, it's that time of year again. I'm hearing about it every day in the office. Not so fun to talk about and certainly no fun when it's your child's turn. Vomiting and diarrhea... two of the least fun things that kids do. What triggers it? Why does my kid have it? Can it be prevented? What do I do now that my children have it?

Gastroenteritis (fancy word for "stomach flu") has multiple causes, both bacterial and viral. Every rare once in a while, it's caused by something other than an infection and we can talk about that in a future post. Children always "catch it" from another individual whether it's viral or bacterial. Typical symptoms are vomiting for about 8 to 12 hours and diarrhea off and on for a week or two. The largest concern with gastroenteritis is dehydration. Most often, children become dehydrated only if the vomiting doesn't resolve within about 12 hours and they are unable to keep down any fluids. Symptoms of dehydration include lethargy, unwillingness to drink despite a known need, glassy eyes, dry mouth and decreased number of trips to the bathroom to urinate. These kinds of symptoms should prompt a parent to take their child to the emergency room.

Once your child begins to vomit, as a parent, you walk a bit of a tight rope between resting the stomach and providing enough fluids to prevent dehydration. Any fluids that you can get your child to drink is ok to use, but often the fluids that go down easiest are Pedialyte, Gatorade, juices and chicken broth. The extra salts in these fluids can be more helpful than straight water. Milk and formula are also perfectly acceptable, but for some children, they will cause more vomiting. Always think small volumes frequently. A half spoonful every 5-10 minutes that is not thrown up is more useful than 2 ounces every half hour that does get thrown up. Often, you need to wait a half hour or a full hour after a child throws up in order to give them more fluids. Ice chips can be helpful in older children if they want to "wet their whistle."

With diarrhea, yogurt is really the only thing that has been shown to consistantly help some with slowing down the frequency and volume. Any yogurt that has active culture can be helpful. There have been studies that suggest that zinc can likewise help, but the studies were done mostly in developing countries. Also, there are no products available in US pharmacies that provide zinc in the dosages suggested.

Blood or slimy mucous in diarrheal stools is a cause for a higher level of concern as they may indicate bacterial infections such as salmonella, shigella or e. coli. Often these infections don't need antibiotics, but they do warrant closer attention.

The best defense against gastroenteritis is the usual stand-by... good hygeine. Always washing hands well before eating, before cooking and after using the restroom or changing a diaper are very important. Likewise, cooking food completely can help prevent salmonella, shigella and e. coli. As with many illnesses, prevention is the best medicine.