Diarrhoea for three weeks (age 22 months)

[scottiedaddy]

Hi all,

I wanted to post something on my daughter's diarrhoea-based illness, as there doesn't seem to be any blog posts or much medical research on what the doctors have finally diagnosed. My wife and I have really missed not being able to read if anyone else has had similar experiences, so I wanted offer some parent-to-parent advice.

Like us, after two weeks of her loose, spray-like stools, other parents that have posted on such symptoms were worried their children had the start of toddler diarrhoea, as the symptoms are loose stools and pretty much nothing else. The child still drinks plenty, eats plenty (maybe slightly less than usual) and is running round and sleeping as normal.

After doing a stool sample - and I urge you to take one into your surgery as soon as you can, even if the doctors dismiss your initial concern with, "Give it a few days", or some such - the tests came back with Aeromonas Hydrophilia.

Very little research seems to have been done on this, especially the effect on humans. I won't go into what it is (this is a decent, if technical summary from Canada - //www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/aeromonas-hydrophila-eng.php), other than that it is a freshwater-based bacterium and is resistant to most standard antibiotics. I also read somewhere it is developing resistance to chlorine.

We initially changed our daughter's diet slightly, putting her on lactose-free milk, for example, but if it is Aeromonas Hydrophilia, this is unlikely to help. As frustrating as it is to hear, the advice we were given was to just ride it out and let it run its course, feeding her and giving her drinks as normal.

A good/common sense idea would be to limit acidic foods/fruit juice (ours was fine with weak squash), as the soreness diarrhoea causes is obviously unpleasant without extra acid content in their diet.

Our daughter's skin was raw, with each soiled nappy change initially followed by a shower or bath to soothe/cleanse her as she wouldn't let us near with a wipe or cotton wool.

What seems to have got her soreness sorted is Timodine (prescribed) as the first layer, then Metanium (over-the-counter) on top, as this is a thick barrier between skin and nappy. We also put her nappy on slightly lower than usual, so any poo or wee had a greater chance of avoiding her already raw skin before we got to it.

The nursery, quite understandably, would not take her until her diarrhoea cleared up. She's gone back today after three weeks. Hopefully, if you're both full-time working parents, you'll have decent family support, or at least understanding bosses.

There's a bit of blistering where the soreness was but it has cleared up fast. Some stools are softer than others but the bowel has been working overtime and takes time to get back to normal, so this is understandable.

I hope all that helps or perhaps gives you another theory to consider/suggest to your doctor as to why your child's diarrhoea has yet to cease when he/she seems otherwise healthy as ever.

All the best.