Lactobacillus GG Reduces Severity of Rotaviral, Antibiotic-Linked Diarrhea.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)

SAN DIEGO -- Probiotic research is still in its early stages, but at least one agent has already demonstrated efficacy in two conditions: rotaviral diarrhea and antibiotic-associated diarrhea, Dr. Jon A. Vanderhoof said at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition.

Lactobacillus GG, one of the best studied probiotics, has been shown to reduce both the severity and duration of rotaviral diarrheal illness, said Dr. Vanderhoof, director of the section of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha.

Probiotics are "good bacteria," such as those commonly used to ferment milk products.

In trials, probiotics cut the duration of rotaviral illness by 2-3 days. Reductions in severity also were significant but less pronounced. Most of the children in the studies were not considered at high risk for severe gastrointestinal illness; further studies of higher-risk groups might show more pronounced benefits, Dr. Vanderhoof said.

Speaking at the same meeting, Dr. Jose M. Saavedra said there have been at least four large placebo-controlled studies demonstrating benefit in rotaviral diarrhea. The most recent study added Lactobacillus GG to rehydration formula given to children from 1 month to 3 years old with rotaviral diarrhea, and compared them with children who did not get the probiotic. The duration of diarrhea was a mean of 76 hours in children who did not receive Lactobacillus, compared with 56 hours in those who did. Diarrhea lasted 7 days or longer in 10% of those who did not get Lactobacillus but in only 3% of those who did.

In his own study of hospitalized infants treated with the probiotics Bifidobacterium bifidum and Streptococcus thermophilus, Dr. Saavedra found that rotaviral shedding also is dramatically diminished. Even though not all the children in the study developed diarrhea, many of those who didn't still shed virus at times. Forty percent of the children not given probiotics had ...