Infantile gastroenteritis kills about 40,000 children each week throughout the world. Most of these children are under five years of age and most are in developing countries where mean family income is probably less that US$500 per year.

The principal source of infection is through contaminated water or baby bottle teats. These children are usually fed milk formula mde up with water that has not been boiled, and in bottles that have been inadequately sterilized, if at all.

Baby milk formula is expensive and most mothers who feed it to their babies try to make each tin last as long as possible. Many of the mothers making up the feed are illiterate, and cannot read the instructions on the tins, and so do not make either the correct strength formula, leading to longer term under-nutrition of the baby. This increases the baby’s vulnerability to infection. The baby may continue to be fed weak formula, further contaminating the GI tract. Death is usually by dehydration.