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Children with diarrhea have loose, watery stools and need to go to the bathroom more often than usuaI.

Normally, when you eat and drink, fluids get absorbed into your bloodstream as the food passes through your gut (the part of your body that digests food and gets rid of waste). With diarrhea, the lining of your gut becomes inflamed or irritated. The food passes through too quickly and the fluids can't be absorbed. This leads to loose, watery stools, passed more frequently than usual, (usually more than three times a day). A child with diarrhea may also get other symptoms such as tummy pain and vomiting.

Diarrhea is usually caused by a virus, which is usually passed on through infected stools.¹ Your child can pick up a virus if they go to the bathroom, don't wash their hands and then put their hands in their mouth. A type of virus called rotavirus is the most common cause. Babies can catch the virus if the person making their formula or meals has not washed their hands properly.

Children can also get diarrhea from bacteria in food, although this type of diarrhea is much less common. For example, the bacteria Salmonella and Campylobacter can lead to diarrhea. You can get infected with these by eating chicken or eggs that are not thoroughly cooked, or from unpasteurized milk. When you get diarrhea from one of these bacteria, it's often called food poisoning.

Tiny organisms called parasites can also cause diarrhea. Two of the most common ones are Giardia and Cryptosporidium. These are found in dirty water, most often in countries where the water is not treated thoroughly. So your child could get infected when you travel abroad. When you get an infection like this abroad it's often called "traveler's diarrhea". However, illness due to infection with Giardia happens throughout the United States. It is usually due to drinking contaminated water from a well, stream or pond when camping in a rural area. If your child gets one of these infections they can pass it to other children, especially in day care centers.

Sometimes other things can cause diarrhea, such as antibiotics.

Most children get diarrhea at least once before the age of 5 years old.² But you can still do a lot to prevent infections that cause diarrhea and to stop them spreading.³

• Make sure your child has the rotavirus vaccine. This can help prevent diarrhea. To read more, see What treatments work for diarrhea in children?
• Breastfeeding is a good way to protect babies from diarrhea.
• Be careful about cleanliness when making up babies' bottles and preparing food.
• Make sure everyone in the family washes their hands with soap and water after going to the bathroom, after changing babies' diapers, before preparing food and baby bottles, and before eating.
• Dispose of diapers properly. Don't leave them lying around.
• Keep children away from people who have diarrhea or vomiting.

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.