Special wristbands allow the hydration of a small child to be monitored without interruption. (Image: Florian Bachmann / ETH Zurich)
Dehydration is one of the most common causes of death among young children in the developing world - particularly during the hot summer months. ETH Professor Walter Karlen and his team of researchers have developed an inexpensive mobile device that could be used by laypeople to more effectively treat dehydration. Walter Karlen's research focus of dehydration as a result of diarrhoea can make a difference. After pneumonia, diarrhoea and the associated dehydration of the body are the second most frequent cause of death among children under five years old - more fatal than malaria, HIV or tuberculosis. In 2013, 1.3 million people died of dehydration, mostly children in impoverished regions, where poor hygiene and contaminated water make diarrhoeal infections commonplace. "Many of these fatalities could be avoided by proper prevention and early treatment," says the Professor at ETH Zurich's Mobile Health Systems Laboratory. Karlen lived in South Africa for two years and carried out research at Stellenbosch University near Cape Town.
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