Probiotics not as effective in low-birth-weight neonates as trials indicate

A large study found that routine use of probiotics in neonatal ICUs reduced necrotizing enterocolitis but not mortality or sepsis in very-low-birth-weight infants, and the benefit was smaller than demonstrated by other studies.According to Leila Agha, PhD, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues, only 123 of 745 American NICUs were routinely treating very-low-birth-weight infants with probiotics as of 2019.“There have been more than 50 randomized clinical trials studying the use of probiotics for very-low-birth-weight infants,” Agha said. “Meta-analysesRead More