A Common Disease with Potentially Deadly Consequences

Diarrhea is one of the most serious and overlooked health issues. Globally, diarrhea is responsible for 1.1 million deaths annually in people ages 5 and over and 1.5 million deaths in children under the age of 5, according to the World Health Organization (2009).

In developing countries, children under the age of 5 have an average of three episodes per year, although some areas report as many as eight episodes per year per child. About 47% of the world’s childhood diarrhea cases occur in India, N…