Persistent diarrhoea: a preliminary report on clinical features and dietary therapy in Bangladeshi children.

Twenty-six infants and children aged 2-24 months suffering from diarrhoea for more than 2 weeks were studied in the ICDDRB's Dhaka Treatment Centre. They presented with watery diarrhoea and the majority had moderate dehydration. A stool pathogen was isolated in only one infant. Systemic infections co-existed in half of the subjects. Subjects between 4 and 12 months of age were moderately malnourished. The remainder were severely malnourished. A range of therapeutic diets were given according to the clinical progress of the subjects. Three children improved with a milk-based diet, two with a soya-based proprietary diet, eight with a rice-based diet, 12 with comminuted chicken, and one with yoghurt. Response to various diets appeared to be age related. Body weight of 21 subjects deteriorated before cessation of diarrhoea. Case fatality rate was 11 per cent due to septicaemia and bronchopneumonia. Most persistent diarrhoea patients without severe concurrent systemic infections were effectively treated using various locally prepared diets.