Peer-reviewed article

Impact of Probiotics on Children with Acute Gastroenteritis: Results from an Umbrella Meta-Analysis.

Sen Fan, Xianchun Mao, Ranran Li · 4 May 2026

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Probiotics have been suggested as therapeutic agents for acute gastroenteritis (AG) in children. However, the optimal probiotic strains, doses, and durations of supplementation remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: This umbrella meta-analysis was conducted to assess the clinical efficacy of different strains of probiotics on AG. METHODS: To gather pertinent evidence, a search was conducted on PubMed and Scopus from their inception up to October 12, 2025. Standardized mean difference and relative risk with their 95% confidence interval were used as the metrics for assessing treatment effects on continuous and binary outcomes, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 36 eligible meta-analyses (MAs), including 107,541 participants, were included. The analysis showed that probiotics may help prevent the incidence of AG and decrease the duration of diarrhea, vomiting, fever, length of hospital stays, as well as the frequency of stool and the presence of diarrhea on specific days post-treatment. However, the effects were found to be strain-specific and, for certain outcomes, were influenced by the dose (colony-forming units) and duration of treatment. Overall, the most effective probiotics in terms of efficacy on AG symptoms were Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-745, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (formerly Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG; ATCC 53103), Limosilactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 (formerly Lactobacillus reuteri), Lactiplantibacillus acidophilus, Bacillus clausii O/C, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 (formerly Bifidobacterium lactis), and a combination of Lactobacillus acidophilus spp.+ Bifidobacterium spp. Probiotics were effective in both viral and bacterial acute AG in inpatient and outpatient settings. The effects of probiotics on certain outcomes were dose- and duration-dependent, although these effects varied across strains and clinical settings. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that probiotics have the potential to prevent AG and reduce associated symptoms in children.