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WHO guidelines on severe acute malnutrition updated
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New treatment guidelines have been released by WHO for the nearly 20 million children younger than 5 years worldwide with severe acute malnutrition, according to a press release.
“The guidelines are critical because many national health plans currently overlook children with severe acute malnutrition,” Francesco Branca, PhD, director of nutrition for health and development at WHO,said in the release. “This can be fatal. If these children don’t get the right medical and nutritional care, very often they die.”
Children with severe acute malnutrition without health complications that require hospitalization should receive special, high-energy food and antibiotics to treat infections and allow them to recover at home with their families, according to the updated guidelines. There also is information for treating these children for HIV and, if necessary, how to treat severely malnourished infants younger than 6 months.
These new guidelines replace those set in 1999 that recommend all severely malnourished children be hospitalized, given fortified formula milk and appropriate treatment, including antibiotics. The update reflects opportunities and technologies that allow severely malnourished children who have an appetite and no evident complications to be treated at home.
“It’s generally better for children and better for their families if they’re treated as outpatients,” said Elizabeth Mason, MSc, director of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health at WHO. “It can be easier for families who need to continue providing and caring for other children, and it allows vulnerable, malnourished children to stay home and avoid the risk of getting hospital infections.”
The 1999 guidelines did not recommend HIV testing for children with severe acute malnutrition; however, the revised guidelines recommend that children with severe acute malnutrition be routinely tested for the virus if they reside in countries where HIV is common. Those who test positive should be started on antiretroviral drugs, along with special foods and antibiotics to treat the malnutrition.
The guidelines also recommend that infants younger than 6 months should be exclusively breast-fed for optimal nutrition and protection against infections.