Bifidobacterium lactis in treatment of children with acute diarrhea. A randomized double blind controlled trial

Background: Probiotics are becoming increasingly popular treatment for children diarrhea. Although there are several probiotic strains potentially useful, researches were often limited to certain strains. AIM: To test Bifidobacterium lactis on morbidity of acute diarrhea in children less than 2 years. Subjects and methods: A randomized double-blind controlled clinical trial was conducted in 50 children (1 - 23 months) admitted with acute diarrhea to the Pediatric Hospital, Cairo University and were randomly assigned to receive in addition to usual treatment of diarrhea according to WHO guidelines; one of two treatments either milk formula non-supplemented (n = 25) or supplemented (n = 25) with Bifidobacterium lactis 14.5 x 106 CFU/100 ml daily for one week. Primary outcomes were frequency and duration of diarrhea and hospital stay. Secondary outcomes were duration of fever and vomiting episodes. Safety and tolerance were also recorded. Results: On admission, patients’ characteristics of both groups (50 cases) were similar. For children who received the probiotics for one week; mean duration of diarrhoea was shorter than in controls (3.12 ± 0.92 vs. 4.10 ± 0.94 days) (P = 0.02), number of motions per day was less than in controls (3.96 ± 0.62 vs. 4.46 ± 0.85) (P = 0.04) and discharge from hospital <2 days was more frequent than in controls (72% vs. 44%) (P = 0.048). There was no effect on fever (P = 0.63) or vomiting (P = 0.54). Conclusion: Bifidobacterium lactis probiotics in supplemented milk formula decreased significantly frequency, duration of diarrhea, and hospital stay than usual treatment alone in children with acute diarrhea. Additional researches on other uncommon local probiotic species should be encouraged.