Question I recently had a parent ask me if their child should be taking probiotics to reduce the impending diarrhea while using antibiotic treatment for an ear infection. Are probiotics effective and safe in preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and, if so, what strain and dose are recommended? Answer The 2 types of probiotics recommended to prevent pediatric antibiotic-associated diarrhea are Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Saccharomyces boulardii. Although an optimal dose has yet to be established, higher doses in the range of 5 to 40 billion colony-forming units per day were reported to be the most efficacious in trials. The safety profile of probiotics is excellent in healthy children; however, rare serious adverse events have been documented in severely debilitated or immunocompromised children.
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