Diarreia aguda na infância

Abstract

According to studies over the years, it is known throughout the world that acute diarrhea corresponds to a disease with a high morbidity and mortality rate, mainly affecting children up to 5 years of age. According to the 2017 Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) report, acute diarrhea was responsible for 8% of infant mortality in children under 5 years of age worldwide. In Brazil, in 2018, among the total number of individuals hospitalized for severe diarrhea, around 36.2% were children in the same age group described previously (AGUIAR et al., 2020). However, in recent decades there has been a significant reduction in infant mortality, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). For example, in Brazil in the 1970s, 70 deaths per thousand live births were recorded, while in the 2010s this number reduced to 15 deaths per thousand live births, a reduction resulting from the reduction in cases of deaths due to diarrhea and dehydration ( MORAIS et al., 2017).