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Diarrhoea is the passage of frequent loose stools and could occur as a result of infection by viruses, bacteria or parasites or could be due to other csauses eg inflammation, use of mediactions. Diarrhoea occurs commonly in both children and adults. The frequency and volume of fluid loss with some pathogens could rapidly lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. This is especially worse in infants and children and could lead to death within hours.There are 2 major mechanisms by which diarrhoea occurs – osmotic and secretory. An example of a cause of osmotic diarrhoea is malabsorption where the presence of indigestible substances in the gut lumen lead to retention of water which gets passed out as frequent watery stool. Secretory diarrhoea on the other hand is common with infections, when the infectious agent or toxin it produces activates the process of large secretion of fluids than can be absorbed in the gut leading to passage of frequent fluid stool.It's important to understand how antibiotics work. Antibiotics are basically antibacterial agents. This means they are active against bacteria: either by preventing them from reproducing or by killing them. So when there are no bacteria, antibiotics are useless. Understanding that not all diarrhoea is caused by bacteria allows us to appreciate the limits of usefulness of antibiotics in the treatment of diarrhoea. The first line of treatment of diarrhoea should always be fluid and electrolyte replacement and not use of antibiotics.The inherent hazards of using antibiotics wrongly for diarrhoea include the wiping out of the healthy “normal gut flora” which are mainly bacteria, and this provides opportunity for more dangerous pathogens to colonise the gut. It could lead to weakening of the immune systems and increase resistance of organisms to antibiotics. The use of antibiotics in diarrhoeal disease therefore needs to be targeted to the right pathogen.