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Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) occurs in 5% to 10% of neonates weighing less than 1500 g and is fatal in 20% to 40% of cases. Its pathogenesis is poorly understood but may be related in part to colonization of a vulnerable gut by pathogenic bacteria from maternal or other sources. Clinical trials have suggested that administering probiotics — live microbial supplements that beneficially colonize the gut — might help prevent NEC (Journal Watch Feb 11 2005), but the differences found in most individual trials were not statistically significant.
Researchers reviewed seven randomized trials in which 1393 preterm neonates of very low birth weight (<1500 g and <33 weeks gestation) received any probiotic supplement or placebo starting within the f…