Family Health - Treatment of Fever, Diarrhea, and Dehydration

Families will be able to treat fever, diarrhea, and dehydration.

 

Lesson Preparation

Collect the following items for the lesson:

  1. To make oral rehydration solution, get a small amount of sugar, salt and purified drinking water as well as a one-liter container and something to measure the ingredients.

  2. Find out where oral rehydration solutions can be bought and how much it will cost. Oral rehydration solutions are often sold in a store, pharmacy or clinic. It may be sold as a liquid, solid, or powder.

  3. Find a plant that has dried out because of lack of water for the object lesson.

  4. Materials to show treatment of a fever including: water, sponge or cloth, example of pain reliever with acetaminophen (optional) and purified water in a glass.

Concepts to be Taught

  1. When someone has a fever, you should try to lower their temperature.

  2. A person with diarrhea needs lots of liquids.

  3. Treat dehydration with oral rehydration solution.

 Click on the magnifying glass of any image for enlargement.

Introduction:

Figure 1.

Fever, diarrhea and dehydration can all be very dangerous to a person's health, particularly if the person is a child. Fever and diarrhea are major problems in tropical climates (#1). Show picture #1 which tells: in Latin America there are 96 deaths for every 1000 births and in other places it is only 10 per 1000. We need to know how to prevent and teat these conditions. Fever and diarrhea are caused by germs that get into the body through impure water or food, dirty hands or bare feet. (To review these ideas, refer to Lesson 5.1)

Concept 1:

When someone has a fever, you should try to lower their temperature.

A person has a high temperature when his body heat is too high. This is very dangerous, especially for children. A person's body temperature needs to be brought back to normal. Some people think that a person with a fever needs to be wrapped with a blanket, but this may make the person even sicker.

When a person has a fever, take the following steps to bring the fever down:

  1. Loosen or remove clothing.

  2. Sponge or towel the person with cool water.

  3. Give the person a correct amount of Tylenol or other pin reliever with acetaminophen.

  4. Give the person liquids often.

Figure 2.
Figure 3.
Practice treating a fever

Learning Activity #1: Practice treating a fever using either a doll or a family member pretending to have a fever. Show pictures #2 and 3. Do each of the following steps:

  1. Loosen clothing

  2. Sponge with cool water

  3. Pain reliever with acetaminophen

  4. Liquids

Concept #2:

A person with diarrhea needs lots of liquids.

Normally, your intestine combines with water, salts, and nutrients to be carried by blood to all the parts of the body. Diarrhea is water stools and indicates a problem in the body. When a person has diarrhea, their intestines are not working properly, and allow too much water pass out of the body, causing dehydration. It can also cause food to pass through too quickly for the body to absorb it and causes poor nutrition. If someone has diarrhea, they should be given lots of water to drink. This includes infants with diarrhea who need to continue breast feeding which helps prevent diarrhea and dehydration. As soon as a person is able to eat, they should be given soft foods such as soup, porridge, cooked bananas and mashed potatoes.

Learning Activity #2:

Discuss with family the following:

  1. What is diarrhea?

  2. How often do people in our family have diarrhea?

  3. What relation does diarrhea have with the rains and the seasons? (Often comes with rains and heat)

  4. What are common names for diarrhea here?

Tell the story using pictures #4 and 5:

Ask questions
Tell story about baby with diarrhea
Figure 4.
Figure 5.
Figure 6.
Show object lesson with plant or Figure #6

Maria has a small baby. It is her first child and she becomes very worried as her baby has diarrhea and a fever (#4). An older woman in the village said to stop feeding the baby any water including breast milk because the baby was just losing it again. Maria followed that advice, but the baby was no better. What should Maria do? (Maria should give the baby boiled water, breastmilk and food. The baby needs the liquid and food for strength to recover). (#5)

Object lesson: Find a plant that is dried out due to lack of water. Discuss with the family why it needs water. (Answers include to feed the plant, give it proper pressure for the leaves and stalk to be healthy, etc.) People are the same way, they need to have water consistently to be healthy (#6).

 

 

Concept 3:

Treat dehydration with oral rehydration solution.

You should treat a person who has had bad diarrhea for several days in a row for dehydration. Symptoms of diarrhea or dehydration include:

  • frequent, uncontrollable bowel movements

  • watery stools

  • little urine or dark yellow urine

  • sunken or dry eyes

  • skin that does not spring back when pinched

  • abnormal thirst and dry mouth

Figure 7.
Figure 8.

If someone in your family has two or more of these symptoms, they should get oral rehydration solution (#7-8). Oral rehydration solution can be made at home. It can also be purchased in a clinic or pharmacy. It may need to be mixed. If so, always use purified water. The recipe for a simple oral rehydration solution is:

  • 1 liter purified water

  • 20 grams (2 tablespoons) sugar

  • 3.5 grams (½ teaspoon) salt

    These ingredients are mixed together and given in small sips every five minutes to a person even if he or she vomits. Continue giving the solution until the person begins to urinate normally. The solution can be mixed with fruit juice for additional flavor. Green coconut water, a thin vegetable soup, or the water in which rice or barley has been cooked is also good for a person with diarrhea.

    Learning Activity #3: Have family members mix up some of oral rehydration solution in a liter of purified water. Have each one taste it. Practice feeding it to a sick child or adult who is sick.

Mix up oral rehydration solution

Family Activity:

Family will discuss whether it is best for them to make oral rehydration solution or buy it. The family should make plans to keep oral rehydration solution or ingredients or oral rehydration solution in their home to treat family members for dehydration.

List of figures for lesson 5.3

(Click on the numbered links below to view and print full-sized figures)

1. There are many infant deaths.

-Latin America: 96 deaths for every 1000 births.

-Other countries: 10 deaths for every 1000 births.

2. The symptoms of illness include: fever, dehydration, and diarrhea.

3. To treat a fever, loosen clothes, sponge with cool water, relieve pain with acetaminophen, and give liquids.

4. Maria's baby had diarrhea.

5. Maria needs to give her baby liquids, breastmilk, and sort food.

6. People are like plants-without enough water, they will get sick and perhaps die.

7. Small children can quickly die from fever and dehydration. Consult medical help quickly.

8. From your own cupboard, your family can make oral rehydration therapy. Mix: 1 liter of purified water, 2 tablespoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt to make oral rehydration solution.

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