Probiotics plus antibiotics versus antibiotic alone in children presenting with acute diarrhea at nutritional stabilization center

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of probiotics plus antibiotics versus antibiotic alone in children presenting with acute diarrhea at nutritional stabilization center, Hyderabad. Methodology: This comparative cross-sectional study was done at Nutritional Stabilization Center, Department of Pediatrics, Hyderabad from 1st July to 31st December 2018. A total of 192 children having severe acute malnutrition presenting with acute diarrhea were enrolled and randomly allocated into two groups. In group A, 96 children were treated with probiotics along with antibiotic, while in the group B, 96 children were treated with antibiotic alone. Children in each group were daily assessed for the resolution or continuation of diarrhea till 72 hours after treatment. Results: The average age of the children was 21.73 +/- 13.14 months. Effectiveness of treatment was significantly high in group A as compared to group B [90.6% vs. 78.1%; p = 0.017]. Conclusion: The results of our study support using probiotics along with antibiotics for the treatment of acute diarrhea in children with severe acute malnutrition.