title: A trial in the Karelian Republic of oral rehydration and Lactobacillus GG for treatment of acute diarrhoea.
abstract: In a controlled trial in Petrozavodsk, Karelia, the effects of oral rehydration and Lactobacillus strain GG (LGG) on recovery from acute diarrhoea (27% rotavirus, 21% bacterial aetiology) were studied in 123 children aged between 1 and 36 months of age. On admission to hospital, the patients were first randomized to receive either isotonic oral rehydration solution (ORS) with osmolarity 311 mosmol/l and sodium 90 mmol/l (WHO-ORS), or a hypotonic ORS with osmolarity 224 mosmol/l and sodium 60 mmol/l (Light-ORS), and thereafter randomized to receive either 5 x 10(9) colony forming units of LGG or a matching placebo. The two ORS performed equally for acute rehydration, and oral rehydration with either ORS was associated with a shorter duration of diarrhoea than intravenous rehydration (p = 0.036). Patients receiving LGG had a significantly shorter duration of watery diarrhoea [mean (SD) 2.7 (2.2) days] than those receiving the placebo [3.7 (2.8) days, p = 0.03]. LGG significantly shortened the duration of rotavirus diarrhoea but not diarrhoea with confirmed bacterial aetiology.
authors.affiliation: University of Tampere, Medical School, Finland.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Shornikova
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Isolauri
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Burkanova
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lukovnikova
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vesikari
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D017677:Age Distribution; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005440:Fluid Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007778:Lactobacillus; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D015532:Rehydration Solutions / Q000737:chemistry; D012426:Russia; D012621:Seasons; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015532:Rehydration Solutions