Affl ictions of enteric diseases in human population with reference to diarrhoea – A Review

Diarrhoea is a worldwide profound problem for the people of all age groups including new born, young children, adults as well as old age people. About 88% of diarrhoea associated mortality is mainly attributed to poor sanitization and lack of awareness. Despite the global decline in diarrhoea associated mortality by 50% between 2000 and 2013, the disease still carries a high burden of morbidity. Commonly used treatment regimen includes the measures for preventing dehydration and use of antibiotics. Exclusive breastfeeding, vitamin A and Zn supplementation have been recommended as preventive strategies. Recently, two live oral rotavirus vaccines have been licensed in more than 100 countries, including India, which are very effective in lowering the incidence of diarrhoea and frequency of death. Treatment options for diarrhoea are ORT such as glucose-based ORS, intravenous infusions, normal saline, Zn supplementation, antibiotics, and anti-motility drugs such as loperamide hydrochloride. Effi cacy of the traditional phyto-medicines is evident from long history of use of several plants to treat diarrhoea. Approximately 80% of world population relies on traditional medicines using plant extracts or their active constituents. Pre-clinical evaluations of anti-diarrhoeal activity of several medicinal plants have been extensively carried out which supports their traditional uses. However, lack of clinical data is a major limiting factor towards development of phyto-drugs against diarrhoea. Phytochemicals identifi cation from these plants and their clinical studies are an excellent area to explore towards development of safe phyto-pharmaceuticals for management of diarrhoea and associated enteric disorders. Probiotics are also one of the safe alternative options which need to be given attention in future researches. Thorough review of different research databases was carried out and compiled to depict overview of the disease, its pathophysiology, intervention strategies, drawbacks of current treatment methods and safe alternate treatment options available against diarrhoea.