Chemistry touches daily life through the medicines we take and the fuels we burn. This chapter explains Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), antacids, antibiotics, analgesics, antipyretics, antiseptics and antihistamines, and then combustion, ignition temperature, the structure of a flame, calorific value of fuels and fire control.
1. Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS)
The Story of ORS
- During the Bangladesh liberation war, therapy with ORS in 1971 reduced cholera death rates from 50% to 3% among thousands of refugees.
- The Indian doctor Dr. Dilip Mahalanabis had to manage a shortage of saline bottles. He showed the efficacy of ORS in cholera cases among Bangladeshi refugees (1971–72).
- A further field trial during the cholera epidemic in Manipur attested to its efficacy. ORS has since saved the lives of millions of children around the world.