Australian doctors have discovered a cheap and simple solution to a deadly health problem suffered by very premature babies.
One in eight babies born in Australia are born premature, and many babies born eight weeks early can develop a serious bowel condition called necrotising enterocolitis, or NEC.
The potentially fatal condition, which occurs because the baby's gut is colonised by bad bacteria instead of good bacteria, can require surgery and multiple hospital visits.
Babies with the illness can also have neurological complications such as cerebral palsy.
Dr Girish Deshpande from Sydney's Nepean Hospital says there are not many effective treatments for the condition, so prevention is the best option.
Because of this, doctors at the hospital have been trialling a probiotic supplement on all babies born eight weeks premature.
...
In the last year, no babies given the probiotic at Nepean Hospital have developed the bowel condition.
Story here