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: 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.
Fan et al. (2026) studied this question.
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