Tessa Wardlaw and colleagues (March 13, p 870)1 from UNICEF and WHO discuss a significant global issue. Their report “Diarrhoea: why children are still dying and what can be done”2 includes a plan for upgrading management of acute diarrhoea to improve child survival worldwide.
However, Wardlaw and colleagues neglect to mention probiotics therapy. Various probiotics have been studied in the prevention and treatment of acute diarrhoea of childhood, with substantial benefit.3, 4 A joint committee of the European Paediatric Societies for Gastroenterology and for Infectious Diseases recommended use of selected probiotics in this illness.5 Accordingly, leading health authorities such as WHO and UNICEF should recommend use of probiotics therapy. This would, in turn, encourage further research to delineate the optimum use of this potential therapeutic tool.
I declare that I have no conflicts of interest.
1WardlawT, SalamaP, BrocklehurstC, ChopraM, MasonE. Diarrhoea: why children are still dying and what can be done. Lancet2010; 375: 870-872.
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2UNICEF, WHO. Diarrhoea: why children are still dying and what can be done. New York: United Nations Children's Fund, 2009.
3SzajewskaH, MrukowiczJZ. Probiotics in treatment and prevention of acute infectious diarrhea in infants and children: a systematic review. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr2001; 33 (suppl 2): S17-S25. CrossRef | PubMed
5GuarinoA, AlbanoF, AshkenaziS, et al. European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology/European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases evidence-based guidelines for management of acute gastroenteritis in children: executive summary. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr2008; 46: 619-621. PubMed
a Paediatric Gastroenterology, Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva 84101, Israel