Worldwide plan fights pediatric diarrhea

LEICESTER, England, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- British scientists are leading an international research project that might modernize diagnosis and treatment of pediatric diarrhea in developing nations.

University of Leicester scientists say the 4-year project will offer a means of identifying the two most deadly forms of the disease quickly, cheaply and with little training necessary for practitioners.

The researchers say the implications for improving children's health could be enormous since diarrhea is a major killer in developing countries. The World Health Organization says more than 2 million people die each year from the effects of diarrhea, most of them children under 5 years of age.

University of Leicester Microbiology Professor Peter Williams and colleagues Uta Praekelt and Marie Singer are working with scientists at the Robert Koch Institute in Germany; Anna University in Chennai, India; Christian Medical College in Vellore, India; and at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

The project, called the European-Asian Challenge to Childhood Diarrhea, has received funding from the European Union, the British Council and the Indian University Grants Commission.