Q: My son is 12 months old. He has been vomiting for the past 3 days. He has non projectile, non bilious, watery. He also has a slight abdominal distension, he passes flatus and is having loose stools 3-4 times a day which are yellowish and foul smelling. His stool R\E report shows 3-5 pus cell; no RBC and no ova and cyst. We used to feed him with cerelac stage2 and cows milk manufactured by dairy. Three days back we gave him buffalo milk. He is on treatment with syrup metron tds; syrup nalidixic acid tds and syrup domstal sos. He also has mild fever. We are really worried. Please give us your expert opinion about this.

A:Your child is suffering from gastro-enteritis (GE). Most GE in children is of viral etiology and is self limiting. Antibiotics are needed only if cholera or dysentery is suspected. Neither appears to be the case in your child. Therefore, antibiotics and metrogyl are not likely to be of much benefit. What is more important is that adequate amounts of fluids are given to prevent dehydration. As a rough guide, give about 50 ml of ORS /loose stool if your child weighs around 10 kg. If the child accepts well orally and is passing urine 4-5 times per day, his hydration is normal. Continue feeding him the usual foods and milk. Remember that during sickness a child's appetite decreases. So, don't force feed, only offer more liquids: soup, neembu-paani etc and solids if he is willing to take. Typically GE would last for 3-4 days only.