ORS Day: ‘ORS’ is a powerful health solution for people of all ages.

New Delhi, Lifestyle Desk. In children, vomiting and diarrhea are a fairly common problem. During the monsoon season, there has been a huge increase in the case of stomach infection. It may be in the form of loose motion, vomiting and fever or all three can occur simultaneously. Sudden abdominal pain and recovery may also be a sign of gastrointestinal infection. Parents of children should not ignore such symptoms and seek medical help before dehydration occurs.

The best and easiest way to treat dehydration is to first give your child an ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) instead of feeding him any medication. It is a combination of electrolytes in clean water. Generally, tummy tormate (loose stools) is caused by viral infections. The episodes are usually mild and close on their own. Sometimes vomiting also occurs and if there is trouble in vomiting, doctors may prescribe some medicines depending on the age and weight of the child. However, in most cases vomiting stops on its own.

How does ORS work?

When a child has diarrhea, he has a loose] water-like and continuous bowel movement. This removes a lot of water and salt from the child’s body. Therefore, a child should be fed ORS regularly to avoid such severe condition. Reclaimed ORS by WHO (World Health Organization) is easily available in the market and can also be prepared at home as it contains sugar, water and salt and hence it is found in almost every household.

It can be made with 1 liter of clean water (about five 8-ounce cups), 6 level teaspoons of sugar and 1/2 level tsp of salt. It should be very careful to make everything everything should be in the right proportion. Too much sugar can make diarrhea worse. Too much salt can be very harmful for a child. When the child gets stool like water, ORS solution should be given to him.

These things must be included in this solution. 

– Must be sugar / starch as it is a good source of glucose and energy. 

– some sodium and 

– Some Potassium

Commercial and home made ORs

Commercial oral rehydration solution (recommenced by WHO) is usually found as a pouch, where powders or granules can be added to clean drinking water. Flavor can be added to it to make it more delicious.

ORS is very easy to make at home. It is sometimes in the form of a simple broth and even includes solutions such as rice water which are readily available in the home environment of some areas. However, it has been found that some of these homemade solutions may have osmotic effects that can make diarrhea worse, especially if the ingredients involved are not mixed in the correct proportion. Therefore, commercial ORs reduce osmolarity and prevent this effect from occurring.

Home-made ORs should be taken as a temporary option until commercial ORs become available. It is also important to pay attention as there are many cases in which ORS does not work. Hapitalization and IV drip may be necessary at the end.