Probiotics in the Treatment of Acute Diarrhea in Young Children.

Background: Well-controlled clinical studies in the developed world have shown that probiotics can shorten the duration of acute non-bacterial diarrhea. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a probiotic consisting of a mixture of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum in the treatment of young children with acute diarrhea in Mashad, Iran. Methods: Sixty-two hospital inpatients aged 6 to 36 months with acute non-bloody, non-bacterial diarrhea of a less than 2 days duration and moderate dehydration were enrolled. Thirty-two were treated with probiotic powder three times daily for 5 days plus the routine oral rehydration solution (study group) and the other 30 were given a placebo plus oral rehydration solution (control group). Results: Mean age at the time of admission was 14.5±7 months for the study group and 13.7±6 months for controls. The mean duration of diarrhea was 3.4 days in the study group and 4.5 days in controls (P = 0.027). Duration of hospital admission was 2.1±0.7 days in the probiotic group compared with 2.7±0.6 days in the control group (P = 0.033). Average weight gain was 425 ± 9 and 370 ± 85 g for the study and control groups, respectively. Average reduction in the frequency of diarrhea per day was 4.4 ± 1.5 times for the study group and 3.6 ± 1.3 times for the control group. Conclusion: Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum shortened the duration of diarrhea and hospital stay,and normalized stool frequency. The use of probiotics might be recommended for treating acute diarrhea in young children.