Probiotic Bacteria may Provide Cheaper Cure for Diarrhoea in Infants

A collaborative study by researcher from Sweden and Switzerland has demonstrated that with the addition of probiotic bacteria, preventative measures for curing rotaviral-caused diarrhoea can be made far cheaper just as effective.

Led by Neha Pant at the Karolinska Institute and the University of Linkoping in Sweden and from the Nestle Research Center in Switzerland, a team of researchers compared the effectiveness of six probiotic bacteria in combating diarrhoea in animal models.

The researchers combined probiotics, also called ‘good bacteria’, with antibodies known to cure rotaviral-caused diarrhoea, which resulted in a reduced incidence of gastro-intestinal infection in animal model.

They found that the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG probiotic strain, in combination with a lower dose than usual of antibodies, provided protection against infection that is almost as effective as a higher dose of the antibodies alone.

The new findings indicate that probiotic bacteria strains may make for a saving of up to 90 per cent on antibodies to treat diarrhoea.

According to the researchers, when L. rhamnosus GG was given before infection with rotavirus, 59 per cent of animal subjects did not develop rotaviral diarrhoea.

On the other hand, only seven per cent of subjects escaped rotavirus infection without intervention of prophylactic, they added.

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The other five probiotic bacteria strains tested were either less efficacious preventives or were not at all effective.

Source-IANS
VEN /J