A Comparative Study of ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) with Probiotics versus ORS with Zinc as an Adjunct Therapy in Pediatric Acute Diarrhoeal Diseases

Abstract

Abstract Background: Diarrhea is characterized by abnormally loose or watery stools. Diarrhea causes the body to lose a lot more fluid than normal, infants and toddlers can become dehydrated more quickly than older children when they have diarrhea and vomiting. If dehydration becomes severe it can be dangerous particularly in young babies. We in the current study tried to evaluate the effect of ORS with probiotics and ORS with zinc supplementation as an adjunct therapy to diarrheal disease. Methods: Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria n=100 successive cases were identified and included in the study. They were randomly allotted in two groups. Group A (N=50) was given a probiotic sachet consisting of Saccharomyces 2.5 billion spores and Lactic acid bacillus 100 million spores. The powder in the sachet was dissolved in 20 ml of lukewarm water and given to the child twice daily. Group B (n=50) were given 20mg Zinc sulfate tablet once daily along with the usual treatment of fluid replacement. Results : The mean age was 2.76 years in-group-A and 2.92 years in Group-B. In this study, the mean weight was 10.12 kg of the patients belonging to group-A and the mean weight was 10.16 kg of the patients belonging to group B. The Mean duration of diarrhea to subside after intervention in group A was 75.3 hours and the mean duration of diarrhea after intervention in group B was 56.08 hours. The average time for recovery in patients of group A was 4.5 days and in group B the meantime for recovery was 3.9 days. Conclusion: There was a significant improvement in the patients treated with the zinc group when compared with the probiotic group in terms of time taken for resolving diarrhea. There was a little difference in the effect of probiotics and zinc in patients in terms of stool frequency and stool consistency. However, the efficacy of zinc was greater compared to probiotics.