Oral rehydration solution containing 90 millimol sodium is safe and useful in treating diarrhoea in severely malnourished children.

The safety and efficacy of standard oral glucose-electrolyte solution, containing 90 mmol of sodium per litre, was evaluated in the treatment of dehydrating diarrhoea among severely malnourished (marasmic) children. A total of 81 male children aged between 6 and 48 months were studied; 41 were in the malnourished group (study group: less than 60% of Harvard Standard weight-for-age) and 40 were in the well-nourished group (control group: 80% or more Harvard Standard weight-for-age). Children of both groups could be rehydrated with standard oral rehydration solution (ORS) without encountering any clinical or biochemical complications. The results of this study lend support to the World Health Organization's concept of a unified formula of ORS for the treatment of all cases of acute diarrhoea, including severely malnourished children.