It all started in 2008 when my 3-year-old daughter was admitted with dehydration, secondary to a virus-related diarrhea and vomiting; commonly referred to as stomach bug!
My wife and I are both medical doctors and well aware that not all diarrhea in pediatric age needs hospitalization, leave alone iv-re-hydration or medication. When she started passing loose, frequent and unusual stools, we kept her well hydrated (to the extent that we could) but also added probiotics to help replenish gut flora and possibly alter and mitigate the effects of the illness.
After three days, the situation got worse. She was not improving, dehydration had become more severe and eventually, we called the pediatrician on a Saturday morning. The pediatrician advised that we admit her for IV (Intravenous) re-hydration and observation.
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In the meantime, we continued using probiotics to the extent she could keep it down. Like most in medical practice, the pediatrician introduced a broad spectrum antibiotic to cover for any unforeseen infections especially in a hospital setting. After two days in hospital, she was getting better and was discharged on the third day. It only took another 5 to 7 days for full recovery and back to day-care center. That brought the whole duration of disease and convalescence close to over 14 days or approx. 2 weeks.

This jolted me out of my comfort zone and gave me time to reflect on a number of issues. In addition to the emotional trauma, I had a hunch and conviction that all was not well with the general approach accepted for management of diarrhea and vomiting. Specifically, I narrowed down to the data and clinical information on the use of probiotics in both Infective (usually viral) diarrhea and Antibiotic-Induced Diarrhea.