A second randomised trial evaluating a probiotic combination product (L rhamnosus R001 and L helveticus R0052) for the treatment of acute gastroenteritis in young children has also been published; this also found no clinical benefit when compared to placebo.
The author of an accompanying editorial notes that neither of these large, well conducted trials provides support for the use of probiotics containing L rhamnosus to treat moderate to severe gastroenteritis in children. However they caution against extrapolating the findings to other probiotics, and recommend further rigorous trials to test their efficacy in treating gastrointestinal and other diseases, due to their relatively low cost and minimal side effects.