India, October 14, 2025: As part of its commitment to advance scientific evidence around dehydration, Kenvue in India released its latest scientific research with focus on “Real world evidence on Dehydration in non-diarrheal conditions.” The findings from the research have been published in the prestigious Journal of the Association of Physicians of India (JAPI).
In non-diarrheal conditions like fever, infections, nausea, vomiting, heat-related illnesses, tropical illnesses like dengue, malaria, etc., there is significant increase in insensible fluid and electrolyte loss that making individuals susceptible to dehydration. For example, when an individual has fever, with every 1°C rise in temperature above 39°C (102°F), there is a 25% increase in insensible fluid loss of about 30 ounces (nearly 900 ml) every 24 hours, along with an extra 3 ounces (nearly 30 ml) lost during breathing and coughing.
However, till date there are limited scientific studies around the epidemiology and role of electrolytes in non-diarrheal dehydration in adults.
With its latest study, Kenvue aims to understand the prevalence of dehydration in non-diarrheal conditions and prescription of oral electrolytes for diabetic and non-diabetic adults. Leveraging real-world data based on retrospective analysis utilizing electronic medical records (EMR) that encompass anonymized and aggregated data comprising of 2,24,90,146 patients across India of which 1.84 cr (82.21%) has non-diarrheal conditions. Key insights include:
- Low proactive screening & reporting of dehydration in non-diarrheal illnesses: The findings highlight the prevalence of dehydration documented in patients with non-diarrheal illnesses is very low (0.02% 1.84 cr) indicating the urgent need for proactive screening for dehydration to diagnose non-diarrheal dehydration as well as proactively document it in the patient’s medical records.
- Low prescription of Oral fluid, electrolytes, and energy (FEE) solutions: The study highlights that oral electrolytes were prescribed to small proportion (nearly 1%) of patients and approximately 29% of these patients were recommended Ready-to-drink format of oral electrolytes as adjuvants to support the recovery. This indicates that dehydration is a highly underreported condition with low prescription of scientific solutions of Oral fluid, electrolytes, and energy (FEE).
- HCPs agree on role of oral FE&E solutions in fastening recovery: The data reveals recovery from conditions with fever as a symptom tends to be faster in the case of the patients who had oral electrolytes (which also include RTD formats like ORSL® variants) as adjuvants to help restore FEE deficits. Inclusion of oral fluid, electrolytes, and energy (FEE) drinks along with the standard of care treatment as adjuvants supports faster recovery in individuals of non-diarrheal conditions.
- ORSL® as an adjuvant for non-diarrheal dehydration: For most patients with non-diarrheal conditions, where FEE ready-to-drink formats were recommended as adjuvants, ORSL® electrolyte drinks was the preferred solution/brand recommended by HCP for every by third patient as an adjuvant support faster recovery. Within the RTD formulations evaluated, ORSL® variants were commonly recommended as adjuvants for mild to moderate non-diarrheal dehydration during conditions like respiratory tract infections, dengue, typhoid, dehydration, and malaria to help restore fluids, electrolytes and energy, while ORSL Rehydrate® was the preferred choice in persons with diabetes with non-diarrheal conditions. These variants were commonly recommended twice daily and for duration of 1-3 days followed by 4-5 days
Dr. Harshad Malve, Medical Head Self Care & Operations, Kenvue, “While there is significant research around dehydration in diarrheal conditions, however scientific literature around non-diarrheal conditions has been limited so far. The findings from this recent publication also indicate limited proactive screening of dehydration as well as low prescription or oral FEE solutions. At Kenvue, we are committed to championing evidence generation around this critical therapy area focusing on FEE deficits in non-diarrheal conditions, their impact on recovery and clinical benefits of oral FEE solutions as adjuvants in fastening recovery if included in Day one of treatment. We remain committed to advancing the science by partnering with clinical experts to generate new evidence as well as strengthening our education efforts amongst physicians.”
Commenting on highlights of the EMR study, Dr. Manoj Chawla, Director & Consultant Diabetologist, Lina Diabetes Care & Mumbai Diabetes Research Centre, Mumbai said, “In non-diarrheal conditions, physicians often prioritize treatment for primary illness, like fever, respiratory conditions, viral infections, and might not specifically assess the associated dehydration. Given its impact on the patient’s recovery, there is urgent need to both screen, document as well as include holistic hydration with science backed oral FEE in the overall treatment.”
The JAPI supplement also included Kenvue’s latest research on in-vitro study on immunomodulatory potential of ORSL® Immunity+, (a food for special dietary use for weakened immunity with electrolytes and micronutrients) in helping mitigate inflammation, enhancing phagocytic activity, and providing antioxidant support. These findings support the potential role of oral FEE solutions as adjuvants in building immune health alongside improving hydration status.
