What role does the age of the child play in the seriousness of diarrhea?
STEVEN SCHWARTZ, MD: If an older child develops diarrhea, we can be pretty certain it is diet-related, or perhaps there is an intestinal infection, typically viral. In a young child-particularly an infant under six months of age and certainly an infant under two to three months of age-diarrhea can just be one of the symptoms of far more serious illness. So if a parent sees diarrhea in a young infant, their physician should be contacted immediately. DANIEL NEUSPIEL, MD: I would add that in a young infant, not only is the cause potentially different, but the consequences of diarrhea can be dramatically different. A young infant can lose fluids very rapidly, therefore becoming dehydrated more easily than an older child. Is it fair to say it can be life threatening-that diarrhea is more than just a watery stool that’s inconvenient? DANIEL NEUSPIEL, MD: Yes. And it’s often managing fluid loss and preventing serious dehydration that we deal with as pediatricians. What can cause diarrhea? DAN
