The effect of bacterial and yeast probiotics on acute watery diarrhea in children

Introduction: Diarrheal diseases are one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity in the developing countries. ORS (oral rehydration solution) has turned up to decrease diarrheal mortality,but has left no effect on the duration and severity of the disease. Different studies have focused on the use of probiotics as a supplementary treatment for acute diarrhea. This current study is to evaluate the effect of bacterial and yeast probiotics in children with acute diarrhea.

Material and Method: This clinical trial was conducted on 90 two-five years old children with acute watery diarrhea referred to pediatrics clinic in 2013 as outpatient cases. These children were divided randomly into three different groups of thirty. One group was under standard treatment with oral dehydration solution in addition to bacterial probiotics in form of Kidilact (ZistTakhmir Co., Tehran, Iran)once a day. The second group, in addition to ORS, received yeast probiotics in form of Argopharm 250mg once a day. The third group received standard rehydration therapy along with placebo. Treatment with probiotics or placebo lasted for 5 days.

Result: Our findings demonstrated no significant difference in the three groups in terms of age, sex, frequency, and duration of diarrhea before treatment. Mean durations of diarrhea from commence of treatment to recovery were 2.80, 3.17, and 4.43 days for the first (bacterial probiotic), the second (yeast probiotic), and the third (placebo) groups, respectively. A significant difference was revealed among the three groups in terms of diarrhea duration. The bacterial probiotic group had the best effect in reducing diarrheal length, while the placebo group had the least effect in this respect.

Conclusion: Findings of the current study and those of other studies confirm that application of probiotics in pediatric diarrheal diseases can be effective in minimizing course of diarrhea. According to our study, bacterial probiotic appeared more effective than the yeast probiotics in this regard.