Gastroenteritis(Stomach Flu) is caused by bacterial
and viral infection in your gastrointestinal tract, which causes it to become
inflamed and irritated. The symptoms of the disease include: watery diarrhea,
vomiting, stomach pain, cramping, fever, nausea, headache, and dehydration. Dehydration
can be especially dangerous in children and babies since they have so little body
fluid to expel. In order to treat and cure this disease, doctors prescribe
probiotics, which are live microorganisms that are intended to have health
benefits. For example, yogurts are probiotics since they provide bacteria for
our guts which can help us digest food easier. Therefore, probiotic medicines, such
as Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, or LGG, which is sold over the counter as
Culturelle, were prescribed to restore the balance of intestinal bacteria and
boost the immune system.
However, a
major U.S. study led by Washington University School of Medicine shows that a
commonly used probiotic is not effective in improving symptoms in young
patients with gastroenteritis. The study involved 971 children treated in the
emergency departments at St. Louis Children's and nine other geographically
diverse U.S. academic medical centers. Participants were eligible if they had
come to the emergency room with symptoms of gastroenteritis: watery stools,
vomiting, diarrhea or other signs of acute intestinal infection. They also had
not taken probiotics in the preceding two weeks. The patients were prescribed
either placebo or probiotic with the parents, the medical practitioners, and the
patients not knowing which were probiotic. Regardless of whether they took
placebo or probiotic, their symptoms and recovery were stated to be nearly
identical. LGG probiotic did not help in treating gastroenteritis.
Of course,
this was only one study that was taken over 3 year period with only one type of
probiotic, when there are many other types that exist to effect the microbiome
of our digestive tract. However, it seems that medical practitioners have to be
notified of how probiotics, by themselves without antibiotics to kill the
harmful microbes, may not be a solution to treat young patients’ gastroenteritis
Washington
University in St. Louis. (2018, November 21). Probiotics no help to young kids
with stomach virus: Study examined children with diarrhea in nation's emergency
rooms. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 30, 2018 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181121171829.htm
David Schnadower et al. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG versus Placebo
for Acute Gastroenteritis in Children. NEJM, 2018 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1802598
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