Treatment and Prognosis
Treatment of acute rotavirus infection is nonspecific and involves management of symptoms and, most importantly, maintenance of hydration. If untreated, children can die from the resulting severe dehydration. Depending on the severity of diarrhoea, treatment consists of oral rehydration, during which the child is given extra water to drink that contains small amounts of salt and sugar. In 2004, the WHO and UNICEF recommended the use of low-osmolarity oral rehydration solution and zinc supplementation as a two-pronged treatment of acute diarrhoea. Some infections are serious enough to warrant hospitalisation where fluids are given by intravenous drip or nasogastric tube, and the child's electrolytes and blood sugar are monitored. Rotavirus infections rarely cause other complications and for a well managed child the prognosis is excellent.
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“I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrongdoing. Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly, I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion. I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art.”
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