Viral Gastroenteritis (stomach flu)

Gracelle is down with stomach flu :(

Viral gastroenteritis is inflamation of the stomach and intenstines from a virus. What is the cause of it? The doctor said: 1) could be contaminated food, or 2) virus/bacteria infection. The latter requires antibiotics for treatment. Because of the inflamation, she also have lots of wind/gas in her stomach, and the infection caused her to vomit and have diarrhea.

How to treat stomach flu?
1) Gut rest - (I have never heard of such thing?) meaning strict diet, NO oil! NO vegetable! NO fruits! She is only allow plain porridge, and diluted milk (in fact milk (even dairy product) is not encouraged, but she is still a toddler... so milk powder portion is to be cut by half!)
2) Rehydration - to replace lost fluids, minerals and salts. Doctor has prescribed her with oral electrolyte solution, NO fruit juice. Basically, just make sure she drinks water and stay hydrated.  How to know she is hydrated? Monitor her urine volume and the colour of her urine; concentrated urine appears dark yellow.

IMPORTANT: Prevent dehydration!

During her previous episode of Croup, she was really weak and was unable to engage or interact much. Her activity level will determine how sick she is. Thank God, despite the stomach flu discomfort, she is still quite active.

Get well soon...