Question

Dear doctor, my baby ate sugar pills on April 1st and had the DTP vaccine. The next day, he started having diarrhea and it’s been three days now, about five times a day, very loose! Usually, it’s every two days! Can he take medicine? What kind of medicine?

Answer

Hello, if your baby has diarrhea after vaccination, the first thing to do is to replenish fluids. Babies have small bodies but very active metabolisms. If they have diarrhea for a long time or it’s severe, they can easily become dehydrated. Even adults can become dehydrated from diarrhea, so the first step is to rehydrate. While replenishing fluids, you also need to add salt and electrolytes. A good method is to give your child more water or rice porridge, adding a little salt. If your child doesn’t like the taste, you can add a little sugar as well.