Green banana, rice semolina and persistent diarrhoea

Persistent diarrhoea (PD) is defined as diarrhoea continuing for greater than 14 days. Lucina hadn’t realised that, globally, especially in low economic resource countries, persistent diarrhoea has a much higher mortality associated with it compared with acute diarrhoea, accounting for nearly 60% of deaths due to diarrhoea. Major risk factors associated with PD are lack of breastfeeding, poor underlying nutrition, overuse and misuse of antibiotics and recurrent infections. How best to treat such a potentially devastating condition? Sarmin M et al (Acta Paediatrica 2023;112:1755–1763. DOI:10.1111/apa.16810) have looked a simple management option of green banana with or without mixed rice suji (semolina) in Bangladesh. This was a randomised open label controlled trial in 135 children aged 6–35 months, looking at three interventions (green banana mixed rice suji, rice suji or 75% rice suji). By day 5, the recovery rate was 58%, 31% and 58% for children in the green banana mixed rice suji, rice suji and 75% rice suji groups, respectively. The green banana mixed rice suji group had …