Cited by 154Probiotics and Fermented FoodsGastrointestinal motility and disordersInfant Nutrition and Health

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 202 of the 203 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 26 of the 44 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Probiotics for treating acute infectious diarrhoea

Open access
Collinson, Shelui, Deans, Andrew, Padua-Zamora, April, Gregorio, Germana V, Li, Chao, Dans, Leonila F, Allen, Stephen J·2020·Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Abstract

BackgroundProbiotics may be effective in reducing the duration of acute infectious diarrhoea. ObjectivesTo assess the effects of probiotics in proven or presumed acute infectious diarrhoea. Search methodsWe searched the trials register of the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group, MEDLINE, and Embase from inception to 17 December 2019, as well as the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (Issue 12, 2019), in the Cochrane Library, and reference lists from studies and reviews.We included additional studies identified during external review. Selection criteriaRandomized controlled trials comparing a specified probiotic agent with a placebo or no probiotic in people with acute diarrhoea that is proven or presumed to be caused by an infectious agent. Data collection and analysisTwo review authors independently applied inclusion criteria, assessed risk of bias, and extracted data.Primary outcomes were measures of diarrhoea duration (diarrhoea lasting ≥ 48 hours; duration of diarrhoea).Secondary outcomes were number of people hospitalized in community studies, duration of hospitalization in inpatient studies, diarrhoea lasting ≥ 14 days, and adverse events. Main resultsWe included 82 studies with a total of 12,127 participants.These studies included 11,526 children (age < 18 years) and 412 adults (three studies recruited 189 adults and children but did not specify numbers in each age group).No cluster-randomized trials were included.Studies varied in the definitions used for "acute diarrhoea" and "end of the diarrhoeal illness" and in the probiotic(s) tested.A total of 53 trials were undertaken in countries where both child and adult mortality was low or very low, and 26 where either child or adult mortality was high.Probiotics for treating acute infectious diarrhoea (Review)

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This Cochrane review of 82 randomized trials found that, in trials at low risk of bias, probiotics probably make little or no difference to whether acute infectious diarrhoea lasts ≥48 hours, and it is uncertain whether they shorten diarrhoea duration. The authors conclude that current evidence does not support using probiotics to treat acute infectious diarrhoea.

Key findings

  • In low-risk-of-bias trials, probiotics vs control showed no difference in diarrhoea lasting ≥48 hours (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.09; 2 trials, 1770 participants; moderate-certainty evidence).
  • In low-risk-of-bias trials, mean duration of diarrhoea was 8.64 hours shorter with probiotics, but the 95% CI ranged from 29.4 hours shorter to 12.1 hours longer (6 trials, 3058 participants; very low-certainty evidence).
  • Across all trials, pooled estimates suggested benefit (diarrhoea ≥48 hours RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.79; duration MD 21.3 hours shorter, 95% CI 15.7 to 26.9), but heterogeneity was very high and funnel plots suggested publication bias.
  • Duration of hospitalization was shorter in probiotic groups (MD −18.03 hours, 95% CI −27.28 to −8.78; 24 trials, 4056 participants; I² = 96%), but no clear differences were detected for diarrhoea lasting ≥14 days or hospitalization in community studies; no serious adverse events were attributed to probiotics.

Methods

  • Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing a specified probiotic with placebo or no probiotic in adults and children with acute diarrhoea presumed or proven to be infectious; searches ran to 17 December 2019.
  • Included 82 trials with 12,127 participants (11,526 children and 412 adults; 189 participants of unclear age group), with two reviewers independently assessing eligibility, risk of bias, and extracting data.
  • Primary outcomes were diarrhoea lasting ≥48 hours and duration of diarrhoea; analyses used random-effects models because of marked heterogeneity, with GRADE certainty assessment, prespecified subgroup analyses, and sensitivity analyses limited to trials at low risk of bias.

Limitations

  • The paper states that many included studies had high or unclear risk of bias, statistical heterogeneity was marked and largely unexplained, and funnel plots indicated publication bias.
  • The paper notes that most participants were children, adult data were sparse, definitions of acute diarrhoea and recovery varied widely, and probiotic identity/viability was confirmed in only a few trials; adverse-event reporting was limited.
  • The most robust analysis was restricted to only 2 trials for diarrhoea lasting ≥48 hours and 6 trials for duration, and GRADE certainty was moderate for the former and very low for the latter.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1002/14651858.cd003048.pub4

Cites

202 of 203 references verified0 citation errors · 1 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

Figure 1 . Figure 1. Study flow diagram.
Figure 1 . Figure 1. Study flow diagram.CC BY-NC · From the PDF

Verification

Claims the paper makes

73 Own result · 18 Own interpretation · 12 Supported · 11 Own method · 6 Partly supported · 5 No basis given · 4 Sources not found · 4 No full text of the sources · 2 Supported so far · 2 Couldn’t confirm · 1 Mixed support · 1 Not supported · accuracy not yet measured

Show all 61 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 65
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 19
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
78 of 78

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Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

4 of 4

Cited works that were retracted

Works this paper cites that were later retracted, from the retraction notices publishers deposit. Major when the notice came out before this paper was published.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

1 retracted

Show all 202 references

Research works printed but not linked: 44

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  2. Burki, 2017, Efficacy of Saccharomyces boullardii in children with acute diarrhoea, Medical Forum, 28, 112
  3. Cetina-Sauri, 1994, Evaluation of Saccharomyces boulardii in children with acute diarrhea, Annales de Pediatrie, 41, 397
  4. D'Apuzzo, 1982, The treatment of acute diarrhoea in paediatrics using Streptococcus faecium: results of a double blind trial, Therapeutische Umschau, 39, 1033
  5. Hernandez, 1998, Clinical therapeutic effect of Saccharomyces boulardii on children with acute diarrhea, Revista de Enfermedades Infecciosas en Pediatria, 11, 87
  6. Höchter, 1990, Saccharomyces boulardii in the treatment of acute adult diarrhoea., Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift, 132, 188
  7. Jasinski, 2002, Efficacy of Lactobacillus GG in oral rehydration solution, Pediatrika, 22, 231
  8. Javeed, 2018, Effect of oral Saccharomyces boulardii supplementation on the duration of acute watery diarrhea in children, Pakistan Journal of Medical and Health Sciences, 12, 212
  9. Khan, 2017, Efficacy of Lactobacillus reuteri in acute watery diarrhea, Medical Forum, 28, 7
  10. Kowalska-Duplaga, 1999, Lactobif, a marketed probiotic product containing Bifidobacterium ruminantium, was not effective in the treatment of acute rotavirus diarrhoea in infants, Gut, 44, 17
  11. Kowalska-Duplaga, 2004, Efficacy of Trilac® in the treatment of acute diarrhoea in infants and young children - a multicentre, randomised, double blind placebo-controlled study, Pediatria Wspolczesna, Gastroenterologia, Hepatologia i Zywienie Dziecka, 6, 295
  12. Sirsat, 2017, Role of Saccharomyces boulardii in management of acute diarrhoea of children - A randomized controlled trial, MedPulse International Journal of Pediatrics, 4, 68
  13. Urganci, 2001, Evaluation of the efficacy of Saccharomyces boulardii in children with acute diarrhoea, Archives of Gastroenterohepatology, 20, 81
  14. Ahmadipour, 2018, Probiotic or zinc, which is more effective in treatment of diarrhea in children?, Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition Conference: 51st Annual Meeting European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, 66, 332
  15. Bellomo, 1979, A new approach for the treatment of enteritides in paediatrics, Médecine et Hygiène, 37, 3781
  16. Bellomo, 1982, Controlled study of Enterococcus LAB strain SF68 in acute enteritis in children with concomitant respiratory infection, Clinica Pediatrica, 64, 219
  17. 1995, Controlled clinical trial of Lacteol Fort Sachet versus furazolidone or berberine in treatment of acute diarrhoea in children, Annales de Pediatrie, 42, 396
  18. Boulloche, 1994, Management of acute diarrhoea in infants and young children. Controlled study of the anti-diarrheal efficacy of killed L. acidophilus (LB strain) versus a placebo and a reference drug (loperamide), Annales de Pediatrie, 41, 457
  19. Cetina-Sauri, 1990, Therapeutic evaluation of children with acute diarrhea, Tribuna Medica, 81, 141
  20. Costa-Ribeiro, 2000, Use of Lactobacillus GG in the treatment of severe, acute diarrhoea in adverse environmental conditions, Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 31 Suppl 2, 251
  21. Costa-Ribeiro, 2000, Prophylactic administration of Lactobacillus GG to children in a daycare center, Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 31 Suppl 2, 252
  22. 2004, Efficacy of Bacillus coagulans tablets in the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhoea, International Journal of Immunotherapy, 20, 17
  23. Frigerio, 1986, A lactic acid producer enterococcus in the prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and in the treatment of acute diarrhoeal disorders: a double-blind multicentre placebo-controlled clinical trial (Abstract), Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 31 Suppl, 496
  24. Girola, 1995, Efficacy of probiotic preparation with living, freeze-dried lactic acid bacteria and yeast on child diarrhoea, Archivio di Medicina Interna, 47, 61
  25. Grandy, 2010, Probiotics in the treatment of acute rotavirus diarrhoea. A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial using two different probiotic preparations in Bolivian children, BMC Infectious Diseases, 10, 253, 10.1186/1471-2334-10-253 · DOI
  26. Hafeez, 2002, The efficacy of Saccharomyces boulardii in the treatment of acute watery diarrhoea in children: a multicentre randomized controlled trial, Journal of College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, 12, 432
  27. Henker, 2007, Acute diarrhoea in infants and small children. Successful adjuvant therapy with the probiotic Mutaflor, Pädiat. Prax, 71, 605
  28. Jimenez-Rodriguez C Jimenez-Diaz J Hernandez-Martinez F Rodriguez-De-vera B Efficacy of probiotics against acute diarrhoea in warm areas Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism Conference: 9th workshop probiotics and prebiotics 2018
  29. Khan, 2012, Clinical efficacy of use of probiotic “Saccharomyces boulardii” in children with acute watery diarrhea, Pakistan Pediatric Journal, 36, 122
  30. Lahiri, 2015, Beneficial role of probiotic in acute childhood diarrhoea, Journal of Harmonized Research in Medical and Health Science, 2, 26
  31. Mazo, 2006, Efficacy and safety of milk fermented by lactobacillus (kumis) in nutritional recovery of undernourished children and control of their diarrhoea episodes, Revista Facultad Nacional de Salud Pública, 24, 83
  32. Moraes, 2001, A multicentric, randomised, investigator-blind, parallel group study to assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of Racecadotril versus Saccharomyces boulardii in the treatment of acute diarrhoea in adults, Revista Brasileira de Medicina, 58, 65
  33. Perez, 2019, Coddle study: Bacillus clausii as an adjunctive treatment of acute community-acquired diarrhoea in Filipino children, Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 68, 477
  34. Satoh, 1984, Effect of Bifidobacterium breve administration on clinical course and intestinal flora in children with acute diarrhea [Abstract], Nippon Shonikagakkai Zasshi, 88, 2178
  35. Sepp, 1995, Impact of a Lactobacillus probiotic on the faecal microflora in children with shigellosis, Microecology and Therapy, 23, 74
  36. Simakachorn, 2000, Erratum, Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology, 30, 228
  37. Singh, 2018, Comparison of clinical efficacy of Saccharomyces boulardii with yogurt in acute watery diarrhea in children, Pakistan Paediatric Journal, 42, 167
  38. Sugita, 1994, Efficacy of Lactobacillus preparation bioloactis powder in children with rotavirus enteritis, Japan Journal of Pediatrics, 47, 2755
  39. Táborská, 1997, Smecta and Lactobacillus acidophilus ND in the treatment of acute diarrhoea in children, Ceskoslovenská Pediatrie, 52, 29
  40. Zareen, 2018, Effects of probiotics in shortening the duration of acute diarrhea; a randomized control study, Pakistan Journal of Medical and Health Sciences, 12, 471
  41. Clarke M Oxman A Optimal search strategy. Cochrane Reviewers' Handbook 4.2 [updated March 2003]; Appendix 5c In: The Cochrane Library. The Cochrane Collaboration. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.; 2003, Issue 3
  42. Schnadower, 2019, Letter: Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG offers no benefit over placebo in children with acute gastroenteritis, Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 50, 620, 10.1111/apt.15418 · DOI
  43. Division of Diarrhoeal and Acute Respiratory Disease Control, 1990, The Treatment of Diarrhoea. A Manual for Physicians and Other Senior Health Workers
  44. Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development, 2005, The Treatment of Diarrhoea: A Manual for Physicians and Other Senior Health Workers

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Metadata

Authors
Collinson, S., Deans, A., Padua-Zamora, A., Gregorio, G. V., Li, C., Dans, L. F., & Allen, S. J.
Affiliations
  • Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (GB)
  • Urgent Care; Team Medical; Paraparaumu New Zealand
  • Philippine General Hospital (PH)
Venue
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2020-12-08
Volume
2020
Issue
12
ISSN
  • 1361-6137 (ISSN-L)
  • 1465-1858
OpenAlex
W4211012807
Cited by
153
References
202
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 1
FWCI
10.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • LSTM Online Archive (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
Funders
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
Keywords
probiotics, acute infectious diarrhea, diarrhea duration, paediatric diarrhoea, hospitalization, adverse events, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, diarrhea treatment

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