New study suggests probiotics may not help children with gastric bug

There are few things worse than having sick children; It can be difficult to see how a child is struggling with any type of stomach virus and all of its symptoms. It is understandable that parents try drugs and other supplements to relieve their children. According to a new study, probiotics might not help children with stomach bugs. In fact, some doctors believe that the costs may outweigh the benefits.

When people talk about stomach bug (or flu), they usually talk about viral gastroenteritis. According to the Mayo Clinic, this intestinal infection is characterized by symptoms such as watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea or vomiting and sometimes even fever.

This is obviously not pleasant for anyone, but especially for children, which can make things difficult for parents and educators. According to Live Science, gastroenteritis accounts for approximately 1.7 million pediatric emergency room visits each year in the United States. Recently, some people have wondered if probiotics could help fight a stomach virus in children and relieve some of these painful and miserable symptoms.

Probiotics are essentially bacteria and yeasts beneficial to your digestive system. Seeing the word bacteria can make someone cautious, but the bodies are full of bacteria, good or bad. According to WebMD, probiotics are often referred to as "good" or "good" bacteria because they help care for your gut and your digestive system.

Assuming that some good intestinal bacteria can do away with the sting of the stomach, this may seem logical, but research shows that this might not be true.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine examined whether treatment of acute gastroenteritis in children with probiotics actually had an advantage. Nearly 1,000 children with gastroenteritis in 10 US emergency departments were randomly assigned to receive either the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) or placebo for five days, according to the summary of the study.

The children were all between 3 months and 4 years old, according to the summary of the study. In the end, the researchers indicated that the results obtained with the probiotics did not have better results than those of the children using the placebo.

In a statement, Dr. David Schnadower, head of the study, said, "Because of the popularity of probiotics, it was important to make sure that their use was worth it. provided no measurable benefit and, therefore, they are not worth the added cost. "

In addition to the US study, a similar study in Canada evaluated the efficacy of a different probiotic, Lacidofil, in children with gastroenteritis. The results of this study reflected those obtained in the United States.

"In children who came to the emergency department with gastroenteritis, the combined administration of L. rhamnosus – L twice a day. Helveticus probiotic did not prevent the development of moderate to severe gastroenteritis within 14 days of enrollment, "the researchers concluded in a summary of the study.

So what can you do for a stomach virus?

According to the Mayo Clinic, there is no effective treatment, but most symptoms are mild and disappear after a few days. The most important thing is prevention, like making sure to wash your hands, avoid foods or drinks that may cause the virus to develop, and disinfect hard surfaces if someone in your house contracted the virus.

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