Tackling the problem of moderate-to-severe diarrhoea in developing countries

摘要

New research has revealed the burden and aetiology of diarrhoeal diseases in children <5 years old in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. These data could be used to reduce the global burden of diarrhoeal diseases."Diarrhoeal diseases continue to be major causes of childhood mortality in developing countries, causing an estimated 800,000 deaths among children <5 years of age annually" say Karen Kotloff and Myron Levine (University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA), two of the study authors. Interventions targeted at the aetiology of diarrhoeal disease and the children at highest risk should reduce the burden of disease. However, many gaps exist in our knowledge of these factors. Kotloff and co-workers designed the Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS) to address these gaps.