Gastroenteritis and intractable diarrhea

Abstract

The term gastroenteritis (GE) is applied to diarrhea and vomiting caused by infectious agents involving the upper small bowel and/or colon. Diarrheal diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in infants and children under 5 years. Ten million children under 5 years die each year worldwide and 19% of these deaths are attributable to infectious diarrhea. There are an estimated 25 million neonates with gastroenteritis with a case/fatality rate of 0.6% [1].