Probiotics help babies fight off sickness

Dosing expectant mothers and their new babies with a probiotic mix of "good bacteria" may help the infants fight off respiratory infections. "Our results support the idea that probiotics and prebiotics may enhance immune maturation and protect infants against respiratory pathogens," Dr. Kaarina Kukkonen of Helsinki University Central Hospital in Finland and colleagues conclude in a report in the July medical journal Pediatrics. The researchers followed the infant subjects up to age 2. During their first six months of life, 28 percent of the infants on placebo were prescribed antibiotics, compared to 23 percent of the infants given synbiotic treatment, the researchers found. The infants in the treatment group averaged 3.7 respiratory infections by two years of age, compared to 4.2 for the placebo group. There was no difference in growth, colic or serious adverse events between the two groups. The researchers conclude that synbiotic treatment "carries no risks," and may help babies to fight off infection.