Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea in children
Kids digestive Health
Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea in children
THE KID’s GUT MICROBIOTA
Abdominal pain in kids can be a sign of many problems, including constipation, diarrhea, food poisoning, gastroenteritis, gastritis or just eating too much. Either way, digestive issues should be taken seriously. Acute gastroenteritis is usually defined as decrease in the stool consistency (loose or liquid) and/or an increase in the frequency (typically ＞3 stools/day), with or without vomiting or fever(2). Diarrhea typically lasts less than 7 days and not longer than 14 days(2)<.sup>.
Antibiotic-associated diarrhea is a common complication of antibiotic therapy, defined as diarrhea that occurs in relation to antibiotic treatment with the exclusion of other etiologies(3). Clinically, antibiotic-associated diarrhea may present as mild diarrhea, but it can also present as fulminant pseudomembranous colitis caused by Clostridium difficile(3). Measures which can prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea are limited mainly to reduction in antibiotic use, type of antibiotic prescribed and the use of probiotics.
A study done in USA reported that 11% of children on various antibiotics developed AAD and mild illness. More than two third during the therapy and 15% in the week following stopping antibiotic(1).
In case of disruption as for antibiotic associated diarrhea, rapid return to a balanced intestinal microbiota is essential.
Recently, ESPGHAN WG (European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Working Group on pre- and probiotics) provided guidelines on the use of different probiotic strains for the treatment of acute gastroenteritis(4) and recommended two probiotic strains that are Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Saccharomyces boulardii.
To improve AAD in Kids, tht recommends the strains presented in the probiotic formula Prolactys® Kids AAD Prevention.
- (1) Turke D, Bernet JP, Marx J et al. Incidence and risk factors of oral antibiotic-associated diarrhea in an outpatient pediatric population. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2003.
- (2) Guarino A, Ashkenazi S, Gendrel D, Lo Vecchio A, Shamir R, Szajewska H, et al. European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition/ European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases evidence- based guidelines for the management of acute gastroenteritis in children in Europe: update 2014. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2014;59:132-52.
- (3) Szajewska H, Canani RB, Guarino A, Hojsak I, Indrio F, Kolacek S, et al. Probiotics for the prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in children. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2016;62:495-506.
- (4) Szajewska H, Guarino A, Hojsak I, Indrio F, Kolacek S, Shamir R, et al. Use of probiotics for management of acute gastroenteritis: a position paper by the ESPGHAN Working Group for Probiotics and Prebiotics. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2014;58:531-9.
