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Cited by 548Probiotics and Fermented FoodsInfant Nutrition and HealthInfant Health and Development

Effect of a Probiotic Infant Formula on Infections in Child Care Centers: Comparison of Two Probiotic Agents

Weizman, Zvi, Asli, Ghaleb, Alsheikh, Ahmed·2005·Pediatrics
DOI 10.1542/peds.2004-1815
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Abstract

Objective. To investigate the effect of 2 different species of probiotics in preventing infections in infants attending child care centers. Methods. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial was conducted from December 1, 2000, to September 30, 2002, at 14 child care centers in the Beer-Sheva area of Israel in healthy term infants 4 to 10 months old. Infants were assigned randomly to formula supplemented with Bifidobacterium lactis (BB-12), Lactobacillus reuteri (American Type Culture Collection 55730), or no probiotics. Duration of feeding, including follow-up, for each participant was 12 weeks. All infants were fed only the assigned formula and were not breastfed due to parental decision before recruitment to the study. Probiotic or prebiotic food products or supplements were not allowed. Main outcome measures were number of days and number of episodes with fever (>38°C) and number of days and number of episodes with diarrhea or respiratory illness. Results. Participants (n = 201) were similar regarding gestational age, birth weight, gender, and previous breastfeeding. The controls (n = 60), compared with those fed B lactis (n = 73) or L reuteri (n = 68), had significantly more febrile episodes (mean [95% confidence interval]: 0.41 [0.28–0.54] vs 0.27 [0.17–0.37] vs 0.11 [0.04–0.18], respectively). The controls also had more diarrhea episodes (0.31 [0.22–0.40] vs 0.13 [0.05–0.21] vs 0.02 [0.01–0.05], respectively) and episodes of longer duration (0.59 [0.34–0.84] vs 0.37 [0.08–0.66] vs 0.15 [0.12–0.18] days, respectively). The L reuteri group, compared with BB-12 or controls, had a significant decrease of number of days with fever, clinic visits, child care absences, and antibiotic prescriptions. Rate and duration of respiratory illnesses did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions. Child care infants fed a formula supplemented with L reuteri or B lactis had fewer and shorter episodes of diarrhea, with no effect on respiratory illnesses. These effects were more prominent with L reuteri, which was also the only supplement to improve additional morbidity parameters.

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  • Preliminary clinical trials of probiotic interventions for at-risk children have yielded promising results for reducing risk for GI problems, sepsis, autism spectrum disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

    “Beyond correlation, preliminary clinical trials of probiotic interventions for at-risk children have yielded promising results with regards to reducing risk for GI problems (Indrio et al., 2014;Weizman et al., 2005), sepsis (Panigrahi et al., 2017), and even autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Parracho et al., 2010;Partty et al., 2015) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Partty et al., 2015)”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Weizman et al., 2005

  • Different bifidobacteria species, mostly combined with St. thermophilus and/or Lb. acidophilus, have been shown to be effective in the prevention and treatment of antibiotic associated diarrhea.

    “Different bifidobacteria species (B.animalis subsp.lactis, B. bifidum, or B. infantis), mostly combined with St. thermophilus and/or Lb. acidophilus, have been shown to be effective in the prevention and treatment of antibiotic associated diarrhea [129,130]”

    From Intestinal microbiota in health and disease: Role of bifidobacteria in gut homeostasis (2014) · cites this paper as [130]

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Authors
Weizman, Z., Asli, G., & Alsheikh, A.
Affiliations
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (IL)
Venue
Pediatrics
Publisher
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
Published
2005-01-01
Volume
115
Issue
1
Pages
5-9
ISSN
  • 0031-4005 (ISSN-L)
  • 1098-4275
DOI
10.1542/peds.2004-1815
OpenAlex
W1952368292
Cited by
548
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 32 · 2013: 39 · 2012: 34
FWCI
62.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • PEDIATRICS (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
Keywords
probiotics, infant formula, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12, Lactobacillus reuteri, infant infection, febrile episodes, diarrhea, respiratory diseases, daycare centers, antibiotic use, infant health promotion
MeSH terms
Bifidobacterium, Child Day Care Centers, Diarrhea, Infantile, Double-Blind Method, Female, Fever, Humans, Infant, Infections, Lactobacillus, Male, Respiratory Tract Diseases, Dietary Supplements, Probiotics, Infant Formula

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