Role of a probiotic (Saccharomyces boulardii) in management and prevention of diarrhoea

Table 1 Baseline characteristics

Patient characteristics	S. Boulardii	Control
	(n = 50)	(n = 50)	P value
Age (mo)
Mean	18.3	26.01	0.08
SD	20.33	23.37
Weight (kg)
Mean	8.2	9.15	0.224
SD	3.58	4.13
Sex
Female	50%	50%	1
Male	50%	50%
Stool culture/Sensitivity	26%
Bacteria isolated	74%	12%	0.125
Not isolated		88%
Rota virus
Positive	16%	20%	0.795
Negative	84%	80%

Table 2 Mean numbers of stools and duration of diarrhoea

	S. boulardii	Control	P value
Mean number of stools reported on d 0	9.5	8.8	0.37
Mean number of stools reported on d 3	2.8	4.4	0.01
Mean number of stools reported on d 6	1.6	3.3	0.001
Duration of diarrhoea (d)	3.6	4.8	0.001

Table 3 Number of episodes of diarrhoea

	S. boulardii	Control	P value
No. of episodes at 1 mo	0.2	0.64	0.001
No. of episodes at 2 mo	0.32	0.56	0.04

Table 4 Weight gain

	Group	% of mean weight gain	P value
% increase in wt. at 1 mo	S. boulardii	4.4
	Control	4.2	0.902
% increase in wt. at 2 mo	S. boulardii	9.9
	Control	6.2	0.067