Editing Diarrhea (section)

==Epidemiology==
[[File:Diarrhoeal diseases world map-Deaths per million persons-WHO2012.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Deaths due to diarrhoeal diseases per million persons in 2012 {{Div col|small=yes|colwidth=10em}}{{legend|#ffff20|0–2}}{{legend|#ffe820|3–10}}{{legend|#ffd820|11–18}}{{legend|#ffc020|19–30}}{{legend|#ffa020|31–46}}{{legend|#ff9a20|47–80}}{{legend|#f08015|81–221}}{{legend|#e06815|222–450}}{{legend|#d85010|451–606}}{{legend|#d02010|607–1799}}{{div col end}}]]
[[File:Diarrhoeal diseases world map - DALY - WHO2004.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Disability-adjusted life year]] for diarrhea per 100,000&nbsp;inhabitants in 2004<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/entity/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/gbddeathdalycountryestimates2004.xls |title=Mortality and Burden of Disease Estimates for WHO Member States in 2004 |format=xls |work=[[World Health Organization]] |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=28 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828123901/https://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/gbddeathdalycountryestimates2004.xls |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Div col|small=yes|colwidth=10em}}
{{legend|#b3b3b3|no data}}
{{legend|#ffff65|<&nbsp;500}}
{{legend|#fff200|500–1000}}
{{legend|#ffdc00|1000–1500}}
{{legend|#ffc600|1500–2000}}
{{legend|#ffb000|2000–2500}}
{{legend|#ff9a00|2500–3000}}
{{legend|#ff8400|3000–3500}}
{{legend|#ff6e00|3500–4000}}
{{legend|#ff5800|4000–4500}}
{{legend|#ff4200|4500–5000}}
{{legend|#ff2c00|5000–6000}}
{{legend|#cb0000|>&nbsp;6000}}
{{div col end}}]]

Worldwide in 2004, approximately 2.5 billion cases of diarrhea occurred, which resulted in 1.5 million deaths among children under the age of five.<ref name=WHO2010a/> Greater than half of these were in Africa and South Asia.<ref name=WHO2010a/> This is down from a death rate of 4.5 million in 1980 for gastroenteritis.<ref name="Mandell">{{cite book | vauthors = Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R |title=Mandell's Principles and Practices of Infection Diseases |publisher=Churchill Livingstone |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-443-06643-6 |edition=6th |url=http://www.ppidonline.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018175309/http://www.ppidonline.com/ |archive-date=18 October 2013 }}</ref> Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of [[infant mortality]] (16%) after [[pneumonia]] (17%) in this age group.<ref name=WHO2010a/>

The majority of such cases occur in the developing world, with over half of the recorded cases of childhood diarrhea occurring in [[Africa]] and [[Asia]], with 696 million and 1.2 billion cases, respectively, compared to only 480 million in the rest of the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Diarrhoea: why children are still dying and what can be done |url= http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241598415_eng.pdf | publisher = World Health Organization |access-date=12 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019153745/http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241598415_eng.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2013 }}</ref>

Infectious diarrhea resulted in about 0.7 million deaths in children under five years old in 2011 and 250 million lost school days.<ref name="UN2015" /><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Walker CL, Rudan I, Liu L, Nair H, Theodoratou E, Bhutta ZA, O'Brien KL, Campbell H, Black RE | title = Global burden of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea | journal = Lancet | volume = 381 | issue = 9875 | pages = 1405–1416 | date = April 2013 | pmid = 23582727 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60222-6 | pmc = 7159282 }}</ref> In the Americas, diarrheal disease accounts for a total of 10% of deaths among children aged 1–59 months while in South East Asia, it accounts for 31.3% of deaths.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Walker CL, Aryee MJ, Boschi-Pinto C, Black RE | title = Estimating diarrhea mortality among young children in low and middle income countries | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = e29151 | year = 2012 | pmid = 22235266 | pmc = 3250411 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0029151 | bibcode = 2012PLoSO...729151F | doi-access = free }}</ref> It is estimated that around 21% of child mortalities in developing countries are due to diarrheal disease.<ref name='c'>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kosek M, Bern C, Guerrant RL | title = The global burden of diarrhoeal disease, as estimated from studies published between 1992 and 2000 | journal = Bulletin of the World Health Organization | volume = 81 | issue = 3 | pages = 197–204 | year = 2003 | pmid = 12764516 | pmc = 2572419 }}</ref>

The [[World Health Organization]] has reported that "deaths due to diarrhoeal diseases have dropped by 45%, from sixth leading cause of death in 2000 to thirteenth in 2021."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The top 10 causes of death |url=https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=www.who.int |language=en |archive-date=24 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924191646/https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death |url-status=live }}</ref>

Even though diarrhea is best known in humans, it affects many other species, notably among [[Primate|primates]].<ref name="Hird et al. 1984">{{cite journal |last1=Hird |first1=D W |last2=Anderson |first2=J H |last3=Bielitzki |first3=J T |title=Diarrhea in nonhuman primates: a survey of primate colonies for incidence rates and clinical opinion |journal=Laboratory Animal Science |date=1 October 1984 |volume=34 |issue=5 |pages=465–470 |pmid=6513506 |url=https://europepmc.org/article/med/6513506 |issn=0023-6764 |access-date=4 July 2024 |archive-date=15 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240415155247/https://europepmc.org/article/med/6513506 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Appendix (anatomy)|cecal appendix]], when present, appears to afford some protection against diarrhea to young primates.<ref name="Collard et al. 2023">{{cite journal |last1=Collard |first1=Maxime K. |last2=Bardin |first2=Jérémie |last3=Marquet |first3=Bertille |last4=Laurin |first4=Michel |last5=Ogier-Denis |first5=Éric |title=Correlation between the presence of a cecal appendix and reduced diarrhea severity in primates: new insights into the presumed function of the appendix |journal=Scientific Reports |date=23 September 2023 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=15897 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-43070-5 |pmid=37741857 |url=https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-43070-5 |language=en |issn=2045-2322|pmc=10517977 |bibcode=2023NatSR..1315897C }}</ref>