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Probiotics for the prevention of pediatric upper respiratory tract infections: a systematic review

Metehan Ozen1, Gonca Kocabas Sandal, Ener Cagri Dinleyici

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Acibadem University Faculty of Medicine , Istanbul , Turkey.

Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy
|November 29, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Prophylactic probiotic use in children modestly reduces the incidence and severity of acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). Long-term administration of probiotics is safe for children, showing no serious adverse events.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Infectious Diseases
  • Microbiome Research
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are a major cause of illness in children globally.
  • Preventing URTIs in childhood is a significant public health concern.
  • Previous reviews suggest probiotics may be beneficial for URTIs, but evidence is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of prophylactic probiotic use in preventing URTIs in children.
  • To focus specifically on the pediatric population for probiotic intervention in URTIs.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of 14 high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from two databases (inception to June 2014).
  • Focused on Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains for their effects on URTI incidence and symptom scores in healthy children.
  • Data extraction and quality assessment performed by two independent reviewers.

Main Results:

  • Probiotics demonstrate a modest effect in reducing both the incidence and symptom severity of URTIs in immunocompetent children.
  • The review provides the first comprehensive evaluation of specific probiotic strains for URTI prevention in pediatric populations.

Conclusions:

  • Prophylactic probiotic administration showed at least one beneficial effect in most RCTs.
  • Even a small reduction in URTI incidence (5-10%) has significant clinical and economic implications.
  • Long-term probiotic use in childhood is safe, with no reported serious adverse events.
Abstract

Keywords:
childrenincidencepreventionprobioticsrespiratory tract infection

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