Will the British probiotics trial be a success?
Background: From the Metro:
Superbugs such as C.diff could be beaten in the future – by the kind of 'good bacteria' found in yoghurt drinks. A pioneering British trial into the use of probiotics will be looking at how effective they are in beating dangerous hospital infections.
Hospitals in the north-east of England and south Wales will be recruiting 3,000 patients aged over 64. Those taking part will simply be asked to take a probiotic pill with their antibiotic medication.
The hope is that 'healthy bacteria', such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, will be shown to suppress the negative effects of antibiotics. The trials aim to asses the clinical and cost effectiveness of probiotics for the deterrence of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and C.diff diarrhoea. Statistics show that 20 per cent of elderly patients who are treated with antibiotics in hospital go on to develop diarrhoea. Of those, up to five per cent go on to develop C.diff, a bug which can prove fatal.
The trial is costing £1.2million – but the potential savings could dwarf that many times if hospital infections are eliminated, saving lives and reducing waiting lists as beds are 'unblocked'.
Dr Wyn Harris, a consultant physician at Singleton Hospital, Swansea and a member of the trials team, said: 'Treating a case of C.difficile can potentially cost £4,000. Using probiotics, by contrast, costs potentially just pennies.'
This question is asking whether probiotics can be successfully used to diffuse the effects of antibiotics (which is the aim of this trial).
Superbugs such as C.diff could be beaten in the future – by the kind of 'good bacteria' found in yoghurt drinks. A pioneering British trial into the use of probiotics will be looking at how effective they are in beating dangerous hospital infections.
Hospitals in the north-east of England and south Wales will be recruiting 3,000 patients aged over 64. Those taking part will simply be asked to take a probiotic pill with their antibiotic medication.
The hope is that 'healthy bacteria', such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, will be shown to suppress the negative effects of antibiotics. The trials aim to asses the clinical and cost effectiveness of probiotics for the deterrence of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and C.diff diarrhoea. Statistics show that 20 per cent of elderly patients who are treated with antibiotics in hospital go on to develop diarrhoea. Of those, up to five per cent go on to develop C.diff, a bug which can prove fatal.
The trial is costing £1.2million – but the potential savings could dwarf that many times if hospital infections are eliminated, saving lives and reducing waiting lists as beds are 'unblocked'.
Dr Wyn Harris, a consultant physician at Singleton Hospital, Swansea and a member of the trials team, said: 'Treating a case of C.difficile can potentially cost £4,000. Using probiotics, by contrast, costs potentially just pennies.'
This question is asking whether probiotics can be successfully used to diffuse the effects of antibiotics (which is the aim of this trial).
Settlement details:As reported by a major mainstream news source. This question is asking whether probiotics can be successfully used to diffuse the effects of antibiotics and it will be recommended that hospitals should be routinely dispensing probiotics to vulnerable or all patients. Suspend date may be moved pending results.
Forecast history %
| Yes |
| ||||
| No |
|
Question suspends in 1 year
- Activity: H$9,234 |
- Predictions: 35 |
Comments: 7
Suspend date: Sat 10th Sep 2011 11:59pm PST (1 year to go)
Initial likelihoods: Yes: 55%
Action history:
Suspended Tue 10th Feb 11:59pm PST : Suspend date reached
Unsuspended Wed 11th Feb 8:36pm PST by 
tisha![[Admin]](http://www.hubdub.com/images/icon_admin.gif "This user is an admin")
: Good news - I found more information here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7717385.stm
Bad news - results are not expected for another 3 years...As this quite significantly changes the nature of the question, I'm open to cancelling predictions made so far.
Also, the settlement details will be slightly amended. Apologies for the confusion
tisha: Good news - I found more information here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7717385.stm
Bad news - results are not expected for another 3 years...As this quite significantly changes the nature of the question, I'm open to cancelling predictions made so far.
Also, the settlement details will be slightly amended. Apologies for the confusion
Changed Settlement info Wed 11th Feb 8:37pm PST by tisha: show details
tisha: show details ... diffuse the effects of antibiotics (which isand theit aimwill ofbe thisrecommended trial). Thethat hospitals word 'success' should be usedroutinely dispensing probiotics into reportingvulnerable ofor theall trialpatients. Suspend date may be moved
Suspend date: Sat 10th Sep 2011 11:59pm PST (1 year to go) details 
Get widget!Predictions (35)
corbelle
predicted Yes (H$20 at 65%)
craig814
predicted Yes (H$100 at 65%)
bigken1
predicted Yes (H$100 at 65%)
horsefeathers
predicted Yes (H$100 at 65%)Comments (7)
Stake virtual dollars on the outcomes of real news stories! Win more if you're right and climb the leaderboards Learn more...
By joining you are agreeing to our terms of service
Related News 
This news is selected automatically based on the question, its background, options and tags
This news is selected automatically based on the question, its background, options and tags
score: 10
Reuters 27 weeks ago
pre-clinical pipeline CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--(Business Wire)-- Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage company developing novel antibiotics for difficult-to-treat and drug-resistant infections, announced today that it has successfully raised $46
score: 10
Mail Online UK 28 weeks ago
birth, a study found. A year into motherhood, they were almost half as likely to have a pot belly and were leaner overall. The Finnish researchers said that even one probiotic yoghurt a day could help women lose their pregnancy pounds. It is thought that
score: 10
Mail Online UK 28 weeks ago
amount of fat stored, the European Congress on Obesity heard today. The University of Turku researchers tracked the health and weight of 256 pregnant women from three months into pregnancy to a year after giving birth. Some were given probiotics and
score: 10
IT Web 28 weeks ago
take on healthcare GE and Intel have revealed plans to form an alliance to market and develop home-based health technologies which will help patients living with chronic conditions and seniors live independently, says MB.com. GE Healthcare will sell and
score: 10
BBC 28 weeks ago
a more reliable approach to bacteria growth. They want to find out how superbugs become more resistant to antibiotics. Scientists believe a similar approach to that used in the study, published in the BMC Systems Biology journal, could also increase
Related Tags
"Probiotic therapy is drawing scrutiny after a multispecies preparation apparently caused excess deaths in a Dutch clinical trial.
In a randomized, double-blind trial, 24 patients (16%) died after receiving the preparation enterally to treat acute pancreatitis, compared with nine (6%) patients treated with placebo [...]"
"Probiotics can no longer be considered to be harmless adjuncts to enteral nutrition, especially in critically ill patients or patients at risk for non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia," the researchers wrote.
full article: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Gastroenterology/PancreaticDiseases/8362
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7717385.stm
Bad news - results are not expected for another 3 years...As this quite significantly changes the nature of the question, I'm open to cancelling predictions made so far.
Also, the settlement details will be slightly amended.
Please log in or join to add a comment