• Gastroenteritis
• Oral rehydration therapy

Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) has been the preferred treatment for mild gastroenteritis (GE) globally for decades. Solutions containing glucose and electrolytes are undoubtedly effective, but there's a problem: they taste awful (ever tried one?). Young children who are feeling unwell are even less likely to drink something unpleasant than they would when well, so many carers abandon attempts to force it down: the result, sometimes, is the eventual need for intravenous fluids. Could this be prevented …