Researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston found that probiotic use in very low birth weight (VLBW) newborns reduced the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), but not sepsis or death. The research was published in the journal JAMA.
The scientists analyzed data from approximately 308,000 newborns with VLBW (birth weight less than 2,500 grams) at 807 US hospitals. The researchers found that from 2012 to 2019, the prevalence of probiotic therapy in newborns with VLBW increased from 4.1% to 12.6%. As of 2019, 76.3% of newborns with VLBW received probiotics after admission to neonatal intensive care units. Probiotic supplementation was not associated with a reduced risk of sepsis or mortality, but reduced the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis by 18%.
Necrotizing enterocolitis is a serious intestinal disease especially seen in preterm infants. While it accounts for 80-90% of all cases, 20 to 50% of children die depending on the form of the disease.