Bovine Colostrum for Children’s Diarrhea: The Alexandria University Trial on ImmuGuard

Reviewed by the Beseha pharmacist team · Updated 8 November 2026 · Every number comes from published, registered research · Prices from the Beseha product page · 9-minute read

Egyptian university studies on ImmuGuard itself

ImmuGuard is one of few bovine colostrum products with research published in scientific journals from Egyptian universities, under the same brand name and 3 g sachet that Beseha sells. Not every result is equally strong, and here is how they compare:

The first is the subject of this article because it is the strongest: randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled and registered in advance.

The Alexandria University trial: how was it run?

• Who: 160 children aged 6 months to 2 years (mean 12 months) with acute diarrhea (three or more loose stools in under 48 hours, with no blood or mucus).
• Where and when: the emergency room of the university children’s hospitals (Alexandria University), November 2016 to May 2017. The trial is registered in the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR201708002507912).
• Groups: 80 children took ImmuGuard and 80 took an identical-looking placebo, allocated by computer with sealed opaque envelopes, and neither the caregivers nor the outcome assessors knew who got what.
• Standard care for both: oral rehydration solution, zinc and continued feeding following the WHO protocol.
• ImmuGuard: a 3 g sachet daily for one week; per the paper it contains 350 mg IgG, 65 mg lactoferrin, 35 mg IgA and 25 mg IgM, dissolved in 50 mL of boiled, cooled water and taken 30 minutes before food. (The label on Beseha’s box states 1000 mg of whole bovine colostrum per sachet and does not list IgG, so these figures come from the paper, not the box.)
• Excluded: diarrhea over 48 hours, malnutrition, and any child who had already had an antibiotic or an antidiarrheal.

The results in numbers

All these differences are statistically significant (p under 0.001 for most, and 0.001 for diarrhea at one week). The result held when children were analysed by cause: in rotavirus (22 on ImmuGuard and 34 on placebo) and E. coli (13 and 18), diarrhea stopped after a median of 3 days versus 6 in both. These numbers are small, so take them as a direction, not a final calculation.

The limits of the trial (you should know them)

• One centre: Alexandria University hospitals with 160 children, so larger trials at other centres are needed.
• A small baseline difference: the groups differed in how often they vomited before treatment (قيمة p: 0.026), so the vomiting comparison in particular calls for caution.
• Short: one week of use, so it says nothing about benefit afterwards.
• Ordinary, not hyperimmune colostrum: it is not made from cows immunised against a specific virus, and other research on hyperimmune types does not give the same picture.
• Standard care continued: the difference is the effect of adding ImmuGuard on top of oral rehydration and zinc, not instead of them.

What did research from outside Egypt say?

• A 2019 meta-analysis (Scientific Reports): 5 randomised trials in childhood infectious diarrhea; bovine colostrum cut stool frequency by 1.42 a day (confidence interval -2.70 to -0.14) and reduced the occurrence of diarrhea by 71% (OR=0.29). That points the same way as the Alexandria result, but the trials themselves are small and differ in product and dose.
• Hyperimmune anti-rotavirus colostrum (1998): 80 children, 10 g a day for 4 days, less stool output and less rehydration solution, and the virus cleared sooner (day 1.5 versus 2.9). This is a different type of colostrum (hyperimmune), so we cite it as support, not as proof for ImmuGuard.
• A Guatemalan trial (2017): a hyperimmune colostrum and egg product in 301 children, no difference overall, with benefit only when a targeted pathogen was in the stool. So the result is not the same in every setting.

Safety: what was recorded?

• In the Assiut, South Valley and Al-Azhar study (160 children took ImmuGuard for a month): 12 children (7.5%) had a time-related effect: skin rash (9), itching (1) and diarrhea (2), all mild and temporary, and only 6 stopped treatment.
• In the 2026 Ain Shams study (30 children on ImmuGuard): no adverse effects or allergic reactions were recorded.
• The studies excluded children with a known allergy to colostrum, and the Assiut study excluded those with lactose intolerance.
• A 2021 review of colostrum in children’s health says allergy and intolerance appear unlikely when it is used as a supplement within normal nutrition, and that it is not a sole food for infants.

ImmuGuard at Beseha

The dose studied in diarrhea: one 3 g sachet daily for a week in children aged 6 months to 2 years. Follow the pack instructions and your child’s doctor, and the current price is on the product page:

#1

First 6 hours3 g sachetTo try

ImmuGuard – Bovine Colostrum – 7 Sachets

Bovine colostrum sachets, studied for a week alongside oral rehydration

EGP 115

7 sachets · current price from the product page

• The page: pure bovine colostrum from the first 6 hours after birth, registered with the Egyptian National Food Safety Authority under 2022/3652
• The page: dissolves in a little water, milk or juice
• The studies: 4 studies on it at Egyptian universities (Alexandria, Assiut, South Valley, Al-Azhar and Ain Shams)

Heads-up: It contains skimmed milk (cow’s milk), so it is not for a child allergic to cow’s milk; talk to your child’s doctor before starting

Buy at Beseha →

#2

First 6 hours3 g sachetBetter value

ImmuGuard – Bovine Colostrum – 14 Sachets

Double the quantity at a lower price per sachet

EGP 195

14 sachets · current price from the product page

• The page: the same formula in a 14-sachet pack for longer use
• The studies: tested at one sachet a day for a week in diarrhea and for a month in recurrent infections
• The page: registered with the Egyptian National Food Safety Authority under 2022/3652

Heads-up: The same warning: it contains cow’s milk, so talk to the doctor if there is an allergy or a chronic illness

Buy at Beseha →

FAQ

Read next: ImmuGuard: doctors’ opinion in Egypt, is bovine colostrum safe for children and research reference on bovine colostrum.

The bottom line

The strongest evidence on ImmuGuard today is the Alexandria University trial in children’s diarrhea: randomised and double-blind, with less diarrhea, vomiting and fever when it was added to oral rehydration and zinc. The rest of the evidence is preliminary, the numbers are small, and the product is an add-on to treatment, not a substitute. With blood, dehydration or a child under 6 months, the doctor comes first.

ImmuGuard at Beseha →