RESUMO
One hundred and eighty-eight well-nourished infants and children aged 2 months to 3 years suffering from suffering from acute diarrhea were tested for disaccharide intolerance - lactose and sucrose - using oral load tolerance tests. Thirty-six cases [19.1%] were lactose intolerant; eight of them [4.2% of total sample] were both lactose and sucrose intolerant. Prevalence of disaccharide intolerance was significantly higher in those less than one year of age and in those with increased frequency of motion, particularly over 10 motions/ day and in case of watery diarrhea. On the other hand, duration of acute diarrhea, type of feeding, sex, state of dehydration, vomiting, fever, presence of pus cells, blood or mucus and colour of stools had to no correlation with the prevalence of disaccharide intolerance. Early manipulation of feeds would protect 20-40% of target patients from specific metabolic problems and acidosis