• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2004

Purpose: Acute diarrhea in young children is a major problem in pediatric hospitals worldwide. We evaluated the clinical efficacy of orally administered Lactobacillus acidophilus in the treatment of acute diarrhea in children. Methods: From September 2002 to July 2003 at National Police Hospital 41 children aged 3 months to 5 years with acute diarrhea were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomized to one of two groups to receive either $0.5{\times}10^8$ colony forming unit (CFU) of L. acidophilus or matching placebo on admission and every 8 hours during hospitalization. Results: The mean duration of diarrhea in all 41 children was decreased (p=0.001) in the L. acidophilus (40.5 hours) group compared to the placebo (56.6 hours) group. Stool frequency was also reduced (p=0.01) on the 3rd day in the L. acidophilus group. Rotavirus was identified in 58% of the patients. The decrease of duration of diarrhea was more significant in rotavirus-negative patients (p=0.002) compared to the rotavirus-positive patients (p=0.027). Conclusion: L. acidophilus shows to be an effective therapeutic agent in acute diarrhea in children. Further studies are needed to confirm the present findings.