How to manage vomiting and diarrhea in children?

Question

Hello doctor,

My 10-year-old daughter started vomiting all of a sudden last night and has not stopped. It is like, every hour she is either vomiting or running to the toilet with bad diarrhea. She has complained of her belly hurting too, and we can hardly get her to drink water. We have heard about norovirus going around in the news. Could it be that? She looks pale now, and I am worried about her getting dehydrated. Do we take her to the emergency room (ER) or try to ride it out at home? What is the safest way to clean up at home so the rest of us do not catch it?

Kindly help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I read your query and can understand your concern.

Symptoms like vomiting along with multiple episodes of loose stools and abdominal pain could be due to bacterial or viral gastrointestinal infection. Some of the complications of gastrointestinal infection are dehydration, lethargy, etc. Dehydration could be serious if water intake is not maintained.

Kindly consult the pediatrician for the same as children can easily land up in such complications.

Signs of severe dehydration include:

Lethargy or less activity than usual.
Pale and sunken eyes.
Cold hands or feet.
Faster breathing and heart rate.
Irritability, drowsiness, or confusion.
Dark yellow pee or less frequent urination.
Reduced skin elasticity.

As you are saying about norovirus, you can definitely confirm with a complete blood count and the stool examination if symptoms persist.

I advise you to do the following:

Give oral rehydration solution (ORS) to prevent dehydration.
Antibiotics after confirmation of bacterial origin of gastrointestinal (GI) tract infection.

The preventive measures to be taken include:

Maintaining adequate hygiene like

Hand washing.
Proper cooking of the meat and vegetables.
Cleaning the food properly before cooking.

Kindly consult a specialist doctor, talk with them, and take medications with their consent.

I hope this helps.

Thank you.