Odia Doctor Gifts Life to Newborn Babies with A New Probiotic

An Odia paediatrician in the US has found a new probiotic to treat sepsis in newborn babies. According to scientists, sepsis is a medical complication that affects an infant when their body overreacts to an infection. Medical reports suggest that more than 60,000 babies die of blood infection every year. An American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organisation, National Public Radio stated that Mr Pinaki Panigrahi, who had been heading a research on sepsis for the last 20 years has found a probiotic bacteria. The bacteria is common in kimchi, pickles and other fermented vegetables, and could save the life of these infants.

The doctor is an alumnus of BJB College, Bhubaneswar and MKCG Medical College, Berhampur. He is currently working as a pediatrician at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre College of Public Health. A news report mentions that when a baby is affected with sepsis, it stops showing signs of any physical movement. The impact is so severe that by the time the baby is taken to the hospital, the baby dies.

Mr Panigrahi told National Public Radio, "In hospitals in India, you see so many babies dying of sepsis, it breaks your heart. Methodically, we screened more than 280 strains in preliminary animal and human studies."

Dr. Pascal Lavoie, a neonatologist at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, told NPR, "They can promote maturation of the immune system in a healthier way. Probiotics can be much more powerful than drugs."

Babies who ate microbes for a week showed signs of good health and also resulted in deduction of the death risk rate. The bacteria strengthened the baby's immune system. Apart from this, the doctor's discovery also cured lung infections.

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