| Drug | Recommendations |
---|---|---|
1. | Low osmolarity ORS | Universal ORS for all ages in all types of diarrhoea. |
2. | Zinc supplementation | A uniform dose of 20 mg of elemental zinc should be given during the period of diarrheal and for 7 days after cessation of diarrheal to children older than 3 months. |
3. | Pre-biotics, probiotics and Racecadotril | Presently insufficient evidence to recommend in the treatment of acute diarrhoea. |
4. | Antiemeticsa | Reserved for children in whom the vomiting is severe, recurrent and interferes with ORS intake. |
5. | Antibioticsb | To be used only for acute bloody diarrhoea (stools with visible blood); recommended in 2004 guidelines only [6]. The dug of choice is Co-trimoxazole if local prevalence of resistance in Shigella is less than 30%; nalidixic acid if resistance exceeds 30%, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin or a third generation cephalosporin must be used as second and third line drugs. |