By definition, patients with diarrhea experience passage of watery stools at least 3 times a day. This can be accompanied by fever, nausea, and vomiting. Due to the loss of body fluids, these patients also often experience dehydration, which present as: • Excessive thirst • Dizziness • Confusion or disorientation • Decreased urine output • Sunken eyeballs • Sunken soft spots in the skull of infants

Individuals with mild to moderate dehydration can be given Oral Rehydration Solution (ORESOL) to replace lost body fluids; more severe cases may require rehydration to be done intravenously. Anti-motility medications, like loperamide, which may reduce stool frequency can be given except if there are bloody stools, fever, or abdominal pain, or if the patient is a child or infant. Since most community-acquired diarrhea is viral in nature, the use of antibiotics is generally discouraged, unless the patient is immunocompromised or if there is strong clinical suspicion for a bacterial infection. As for persistent or chronic diarrhea, further tests to identify the cause are usually done to be able to address the underlying problem and treat the diarrhea.

Individuals can avoid getting diarrhea, especially infectious diarrhea, by: • Practicing hand hygiene regularly, especially before eating and after using the toilet • Drinking water only from safe sources; if unsure, boil water for 3 minutes or do water chlorination • Washing fruits, vegetables, meat and fish with clean water before eating or cooking • Separating meat, poultry, vegetables, and fish to avoid contamination • Eating only food that is well cooked and properly prepared • Keeping food away from insects and rats by covering them • Using the toilet properly In addition, children may benefit from vitamin A and zinc supplementation, as well as the use of probiotics like Lactobacillus products, as these have been shown to reduce the risk for diarrhea among children.