[Update on oral rehydration salt solutions used for treatment of childhood diarrhea].

After 20 years of research to improve oral rehydration salts (ORS), a new formula has been developed and is now recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). The new formula that contains slightly less sodium and glucose than previously not only decreases the volume of diarrhea and vomiting in children presenting acute non-cholera-related diarrhea but also, and above all, significantly reduces the need for intravenous fluid treatment. This new so-called reduced osmolarity formulation has been included in the WHO's list of essential drugs.