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Cited by 569Probiotics and Fermented FoodsPediatric health and respiratory diseasesHerbal Medicine Research Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 91 of the 95 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Probiotics for preventing acute upper respiratory tract infections

Hao, Qiukui, Dong, Bi Rong, Wu, Taixiang·2015·Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd006895.pub3
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Probiotics may improve a person's health by regulating their immune function. Some trials have shown that probiotic strains can prevent respiratory infections. Even though the previous version of our review showed benefits of probiotics for acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), several new studies have been published. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness and safety of probiotics (any specified strain or dose), compared with placebo, in the prevention of acute URTIs in people of all ages, at risk of acute URTIs. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL (2014, Issue 6), MEDLINE (1950 to July week 3, 2014), EMBASE (1974 to July 2014), Web of Science (1900 to July 2014), the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, which includes the China Biological Medicine Database (from 1978 to July 2014), the Chinese Medicine Popular Science Literature Database (from 2000 to July 2014) and the Masters Degree Dissertation of Beijing Union Medical College Database (from 1981 to July 2014). We also searched the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) and ClinicalTrials.gov for completed and ongoing trials on 31 July 2014. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing probiotics with placebo to prevent acute URTIs. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed the eligibility and quality of trials, and extracted data using the standard methodological procedures expected by The Cochrane Collaboration. MAIN RESULTS: We included 13 RCTs, although we could only extract data to meta-analyse 12 trials, which involved 3720 participants including children, adults (aged around 40 years) and older people. We found that probiotics were better than placebo when measuring the number of participants experiencing episodes of acute URTI (at least one episode: odds ratio (OR) 0.53; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37 to 0.76, P value < 0.001, low quality evidence; at least three episodes: OR 0.53; 95% CI 0.36 to 0.80, P value = 0.002, low quality evidence); the mean duration of an episode of acute URTI (mean difference (MD) -1.89; 95% CI -2.03 to -1.75, P value < 0.001, low quality evidence); reduced antibiotic prescription rates for acute URTIs (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.45 to 0.94, moderate quality evidence) and cold-related school absence (OR 0.10; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.47, very low quality evidence). Probiotics and placebo were similar when measuring the rate ratio of episodes of acute URTI (rate ratio 0.83; 95% CI 0.66 to 1.05, P value = 0.12, very low quality evidence) and adverse events (OR 0.88; 95% CI 0.65 to 1.19, P value = 0.40, low quality evidence). Side effects of probiotics were minor and gastrointestinal symptoms were the most common. We found that some subgroups had a high level of heterogeneity when we conducted pooled analyses and the evidence level was low or very low quality. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Probiotics were better than placebo in reducing the number of participants experiencing episodes of acute URTI, the mean duration of an episode of acute URTI, antibiotic use and cold-related school absence. This indicates that probiotics may be more beneficial than placebo for preventing acute URTIs. However, the quality of the evidence was low or very low.

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Crossref · 10.1002/14651858.cd006895.pub3

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Citations

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Show all 95 references

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Makino, 2010, Reducing the risk of infection in the elderly by dietary intake of yoghurt fermented with Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus OLL1073R-1, British Journal of Nutrition, 104, 998, 10.1017/S000711451000173X · DOI
  2. Pitkaranta A Hatakka K Blomgren K Pohjavuori S Korpela R Probiotics in prevention of acute otitis media in otitis prone children 8th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Otitis Media 2003
  3. Tajima, 1995, Pharmacokinetic, bacteriological, and clinical studies on SY5555 in children, Japanese Journal of Antibiotics, 48, 31
  4. Kollath, 1953, Nutrition and the tooth system, Deutsche Zahnarztliche Zeitschrift, 8, 7
  5. Lefebvre C Manheimer E Glanville J Chapter 6: Searching for studies In: Higgins JPT, Green S (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0 [updated March 2011]. The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011. Available from www.cochrane-handbook.org
  6. The Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration Review Manager (RevMan) 2014
  7. Wu, 2007, The concepts, design, practice and reports of allocation concealment and blinding, Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 7, 222

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Metadata

Authors
Hao, Q., Dong, B. R., & Wu, T.
Affiliations
Sichuan University (CN)
ORCID
Hao, Qiukui
Venue
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-02-03
Issue
2
Pages
CD006895-CD006895
ISSN
  • 1361-6137 (ISSN-L)
  • 1465-1858
DOI
10.1002/14651858.cd006895.pub3
OpenAlex
W1957322304
Cited by
569
References
95
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 72 · 2021: 89 · 2020: 68 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 47
FWCI
6.54
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
new_version (2022-08-24)
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pediatric health and respiratory diseases
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Herbal Medicine Research Studies
Keywords
probiotics, acute upper respiratory tract infection, infection control, immune function, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum
MeSH terms
Acute Disease, Adult, Aged, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Respiratory Tract Infections, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Probiotics

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