Impact of Probiotics on Children with Acute Gastroenteritis: Results from an Umbrella Meta-Analysis.
Sen Fan, Xianchun Mao, Ranran Li
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This umbrella meta-analysis assessed probiotic efficacy for acute gastroenteritis in children, synthesising 36 meta-analyses with 107,541 participants. Probiotics were associated with potential reductions in diarrhea duration, vomiting, fever, hospital stay, stool frequency, and diarrhea on selected post-treatment days, as well as possible prevention of gastroenteritis. Effects varied by probiotic strain and, for some outcomes, by dose and treatment duration. The authors identified several strains with the strongest overall symptom efficacy, but the abstract does not report pooled effect sizes for these outcomes.
Key findings
- The umbrella review included 36 meta-analyses and 107,541 participants.
- Probiotics may reduce diarrhea duration, vomiting, fever, hospital stay, and stool frequency in children with acute gastroenteritis.
- Effects were strain-specific; dose and treatment duration influenced some outcomes, with variation across strains and clinical settings.
- The authors identified S. boulardii CNCM I-745, L. rhamnosus GG, and several other strains or combinations as among the most effective.
Why it matters
The synthesis suggests that probiotics may offer benefits across several clinically relevant gastroenteritis outcomes in children, but it does not support treating probiotics as a uniform intervention. Strain, dose, duration, and care setting may affect results, so these distinctions matter when interpreting evidence and considering its applicability to clinical care.
What to keep in mind
The abstract provides no pooled effect estimates, and the findings combine prior meta-analyses whose results varied by strain, dose, duration, and clinical setting.