Effects of Saccharomyces boulardii in children with acute diarrhoea

KURUGöL, Z.
KOTUROĞLU, G.

Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, İzmir, Turkey

Correspondence: Zafer Kurugöl, Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Paediatrics, 35100, Bornova, İzmir, Turkey. Tel: +90 232 388 18 58. Fax: +90 232 342 69 90. E-mail: [email protected]

(Received 6 October 2003; revised 3 March 2004 and 4 May 2004; accepted 10 May 2004)

Acta Paediatrica 94(1):p 44-47, January 2005.

Aim

Certain probiotic agents, e.g. Lactobacillus GG, have shown efficacy in clinical trials for the treatment of acute childhood diarrhoea, but few studies have examined the effect of Saccharomyces boulardii. We evaluated the effect of S. boulardii in children with acute diarrhoea.

Methods

Two hundred children were randomized to receive S. boulardii in a granulated form in a daily dose of 250 mg (S. boulardii group) or placebo (placebo group) for 5 d. Clinical and demographic characteristics on admission were similar between the study groups.

Results

The medians of the average stool frequency after the second day of the treatment were significantly lower in the S. boulardii group than in the placebo group (p = 0.003). The duration of diarrhoea significantly reduced in the S. boulardii group compared with the placebo group (4.7 vs 5.5 d, p = 0.03). The effect of S. boulardii on watery diarrhoea became apparent after the second day of the treatment. The duration of hospital stay was shorter in the S. boulardii group than in the placebo group (2.9 vs 3.9 d, p < 0.001). Four children from the placebo group versus only one child from the S. boulardii group had persisting diarrhoea.

Conclusion

The placebo-controlled study suggested that S. boulardii significantly reduced the duration of acute diarrhoea and the duration of hospital stay. S. boulardii seems to be a promising agent for the amelioration of the course of acute diarrhoea in children when used therapeutically.