Most of these admissions can be avoided by early and effective treatment. Most diarrhoea deaths can be prevented by giving the patient appropriate fluids in the home and continued feeding with nutritious foods. Most cases of dysentery and persistent diarrhoea can also be effectively treated. Most pneumonia deaths can be prevented if danger signs are detected in time, and if the patient is treated with an appropriate antibiotic, usually an inexpensive oral formulation. A small number of severe cases require hospitalization, injectable antibiotics and oxygen.
Early treatment is vital for preventing death.
Therefore, mothers and other child care providers must be taught how to recognize danger signs, and when and where to seek treatment. A wide range of training materials have been developed and numerous courses are held in most developing countries. Communication messages based on ethnographic studies are constantly being improved, and media offering maximum impact explored. Efforts are being made to ensure adequate supplies of drugs. Focused evaluation methods are used to assess the progress of national control programmes.