Despite a growing trend of giving kids probiotics to treat “stomach flu”, a new study shows that these dietary supplements may not actually help ease symptoms of vomiting and diarrohea. The study, involving nearly 1,000 children aged 3 months to 4 years, provides evidence against the popular and costly use of probiotics – live a common probiotic known as Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, or LGG, which is sold over the counter as Culturelle. Certain versions of the probiotic are intended for babies and children. There are no treatments for pediatric acute gastroenteritis other than giving children fluids to prevent dehydration and, sometimes, medication to relieve nausea. The lack of options has prompted some physicians and parents to give ill children probiotics, the researchers said.On the other hand, another latest study on the use of probiotics claimed that feeding them to infants and children daily may significantly stave off the need for antibiotic treatment. This finding would probably help address the global rise in drug-resistant infections among children, said researchers. The study found that infants and children were 29 percent less likely to have been prescribed antibiotics if they received probiotics as a daily health supplement.”Despite adjusting for the differences in weight loss, it appears that men benefitted more from the intervention than women. Whether differences between genders persist in the long-term.
