Rapid cessation of acute diarrhea using a novel solution of bioactive polyphenols: a randomized trial in Nicaraguan children

Dog Owners’ Attitude toward Veterinary Antibiotic Use and Antibiotic Resistance with a Focus on Canine Diarrhea Management

An ad hoc questionnaire was designed in order to investigate AMR knowledge amongst Italian dog owners, owner expectations concerning pharmacological treatment of canine AD, and client attitudes towards and compliance with alternative strategies to antimicrobial administration. A total of 250 questionnaires were returned. Most of respondents were female, aged 36–70 and workers. More than a half of participants owned one dog with mixed breed, with Labrador retriever, golden retriever, dachshund, and border collie being the most represented breeds. On average, each dog was treated with an oral antibiotic 1.044 times per year. Intestinal diseases were among the main reasons (19%) for antibiotic prescription. Oral antibiotic courses without veterinary consultation (21%) and anticipated termination of the therapy (17.1%) were less common than reported elsewhere. The majority of respondents knew the meaning of AMR with a significant inverse association between the level of education and the tendency to administer antimicrobials without consulting a clinician (p = 0.004). Most of the owners expected a rapid recovery of clinical signs after a first episode of AD and accepted natural dietary supplementation for treating the condition. Ninety-five percent of the respondents believed that public funding should be spent to study AMR. Even though an acceptable degree of AMR awareness emerged, we feel that further efforts should be made to increase public AMR knowledge and to stimulate proactive measures to fight the phenomenon. On the other hand, the development of guidelines for the treatment of uncomplicated canine AD would help clinicians to rationalize antimicrobial use.

Safety of a Bioactive Polyphenol Dietary Supplement in Pediatric Subjects with Acute Diarrhoea

The hematological and clinical chemistry profile for children aged 6 months to 5 years with acute diarrhoea was measured in a double blind clinical trial. Subjects were randomized to the study group (N = 44) given a bioactive polyphenol dietary supplement in oral rehydration solution (ORS) or to the control group (N = 41) given distilled water as a placebo in ORS twice daily for up to 4 days. All subjects received 10 mg zinc daily for the 4 days in the study. Venous blood was collected for complete blood count, electrolytes, liver function, and creatinine upon enrollment (baseline) and at the end of 4 days (end of study); mean values were compared by 95% confidence intervals. Overall, blood factors measured either remained the same over the 4 days or increased or decreased at the same levels between the two groups during the study period. All values were within accepted ranges for paediatric subjects except serum AST (SGOT), where the mean value of the study group approached the upper bound of the range on day 4 but was comparable to the value of the control group. Consumption of this supplement twice daily for 4 days is safe for children and infants.