Use of Specific Oral Probiotic Reduces Repeat Strep Infections (Premium)
Editor: A key point in this study is that the participating children all had a history of recurrent oral strep infections.
Researchers studied 61 children with a diagnosis of recurrent oral streptococcal disorders. Thirty-one of them were treated with a probiotic (S. salivarius K12) for 90 days and the others served as an untreated control group. The action of the probiotic used colonizes the oral cavity, according to study authors. Its preventive role in reducing the incidence of both streptococcal and viral pharyngitis and/or tonsillitis in children was studied and shown to be successful.
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During the treatment, all children were examined for streptococcal infection. The development of viral pharyngitis and/or tonsillitis was also observed. In addition, the number of days when antibiotics and fever-reducing medications were used, and the number of days off school (or parents off work) were recorded.
A “considerable reducing of episodes” of both strep and viral infections was noted in the group taking the probiotic, while there was no change in the control group.
The results posted on PubMed: The 30 children who completed the 90-day trial with Bactoblis® showed a significant reduction in their episodes of streptococcal pharyngeal infection (>90%), as calculated by comparing the infection rates of the previous year. No difference was observed in the control group. The treated group showed a significant decrease in the incidence (80%) of oral viral infections. Again, there was no difference in the control group. With regard to secondary end points, the number of days under antibiotic treatment of the treated and control groups were 30 and 900 respectively, days under antipyretic (fever reducing) treatment 16 and 228, days of absence from school 16 and 228, and days of absence from work 16 and 228.
The product was well tolerated by the subjects with no side effects.
The authors summarized that the 30 children who completed the 90-day trial with the slow-release probiotic Bactoblis,® which contains no less than 1 billion colony-forming units/tablet of S. salivarius K12, showed a significant reduction in their episodes of streptococcal pharyngeal infection while the control group had no change.
See the study abstract here for “Use of Streptococcus salivarius K12 in the prevention of streptococcal and viral pharyngotonsillitis in children.”
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