Bovine Colostrum in the Treatment of Acute Diarrhea in Children: A Double-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effect of bovine colostrum (BC) on the treatment of children with acute diarrhea attending the outpatient clinic.

METHODS

This double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted on 160 children with diarrhea; 80 cases were randomly treated with BC group and 80 cases randomly received placebo (placebo group). All cases were investigated for bacterial causes of diarrhea (Salmonella spp, Shigella spp, diarrheagenic E. coli (DEC), Campylobacter spp., and Vibrio cholerae) as well as for Rotavirus antigen in stool.

RESULTS

After 48 h, the BC group had a significantly lower frequency of vomiting, diarrhea and Vesikari scoring compared with the placebo group (p = 0.000, p = 0.000, p = 0.000, respectively), whether it was due to Rotavirus or E. coli infection.

CONCLUSIONS

BC is effective in the treatment of acute diarrhea and can be considered as adjuvant therapy in both viral and bacterial diarrhea to prevent diarrhea-related complications.