Dehydration is one of the leading global causes of morbidity and mortality among children. The turnover of fluids and solute in infants and young children can be as much as 3 times that of adults. Around the world, an estimated 8,000 children younger than 5 years old die each day due to gastroenteritis and dehydration.
Though the number of deaths in the U.S. is relatively small by comparison (about 400 each year), American children under 5 have an average of 2 episodes of gastroenteritis each year, leading to 2-3 million physicians' office visits and 10% of all pediatric hospital admissions. The cost of outpatient and hospital visits exceeds $2 billion per year, not including the indirect cost to families and society. Furthermore, many other childhood illnesses in addition to gastroenteritis are associated with dehydration, including Gingivostomatitis, Bronchiolitis, pyloric Stenosis, and focal bacterial infections such as Pneumonia and Meningitis.
For this reason, the morbidity and mortality related to dehydration may be much higher than that associated solely with gastroenteritis. Dehydration is such a common concern in pediatrics that physicians in primary care offices, emergency departments and hospital settings frequently assess volume status as part of their routine evaluation.