Effect of Lactobacillus on the incidence and severity of acute rotavirus diarrhoea in infants.: A prospective placebo-controlled double-blind study

One hundred and twelve newborn infants in rural India were randomized to receive a daily oral dose of 100 million Lactobacillus sporogenes or a placebo for one year. Morbidity was monitored each week for 12 months. Ninety four (84%) experienced diarrhoea due to rotavirus infection. The group fed L. sporogenes had fewer episodes of diarrhoea (3.4 +/- 1.0 vs 8.6 +/- 1.7 in the placebo group, p < 0.02) and less number of days of illness (13 +/- 3 days vs 35 +/- 5 days in the placebo group, p < 0.01). The episodes of diarrhoea were of shorter duration (3.6 +/- 1.0 days vs 6.8 +/- 1.1 days in the placebo group, p < 0.05). The number of infants who presented with mild to moderate dehydration was 11 in the treated group and 15 in the placebo group; the difference was statistically not significant (p > 0.05). There was a trend for body weight at one year to be higher (10.2 +/- 0.2) in the treated group compared with infants who were controls (9.8 +/- 0.3) but the difference was statistically not significant (p > 0.05). These observations suggest that the prophylactic feeding of Lactobacillus has a preventive effect on the incidence and duration of acute rotavirus diarrhoea. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.