| Abstract: | The influence of undernutrition on the effectiveness of a dietary supplement of live lactobacillus regarding prevention and treatment of infantile diarrhoea was studied on 200 children 6 to 24m old. Children, undernourished (D) or controls (C), received for 90 days, in a blind experiment, a fermented milk providing L. Acidofilus y L. Casei (10(7)-10(8)/ml) (LB) or an equivalent amount of fluid milk (L). diarrhoea episodes were recorded and classified according duration: 1-4, 5-14 days, and protracted diarrhea (DP) those lasting beyond 14 days. Study requirements were fulfilled by 119 children: D-L: n=25; D-LB: n=32; C-L: n=27 y C-LB: n=35. Preventive aspects were evaluated through number of episodes and through their lasting the therapeutic ones. Episodes recorded were 134: 29 in D-L; 48 in D-LB; 37 in C-L and 20 in C-LB. In the D-LB group over 90% episodes were very short (1-4 days), percentage far higher to that observed in D-L and similar to C-LB. There were 12 episodes of DP, 9 D and 3 in C, all in the L groups. In conclusion, although the fermented milk prevent half episode in the controls but not in the undernourished, it was able to shorter episodes duration and prevent protracted diarrhoea irrespectively of nutritional status. Therefore, undernutrition impaired the ability of the lactobacillus supplement to prevent children diarrhoea, which implicates immune system, but not curative effects which are the result of local actions. |
