Natural salt content of water--neglected aspect of ORT.

The life saving role of oral rehydralion therapy (ORT) in case management of dehydrating diarrhea is now well established. After much research and trials, the WHO has recommended a standard ORS solution which contains 90 mmol/L of sodium, 20 mmol/L of potassium, 80 mmol/L of chloride, 30 mmol/L of bicarbonate (or 10 mmol/L of citrate) and 111 mmol/L of glucose. To accomplish this, final concentration of two variables must be considered: the quantity of salts and the volume of water in which these salts are dissolved. A significant break-through has been made in this direction by augmenting the supply of ORS in prepacked sachets to be dissolved in 1 litre of water under the Diarrheal Disease Control Programme. But, surprisingly, little attention has been paid to the natural salt content of water. This study was, therefore, carried out to detect the presence of sodium and potassium in ground water used for drinking purpose in rural central Rajasthan and to evaluate its effect over the final composition of ORS.