Probiotic pacifier to prevent infant respiratory illness.

Probiotic supplements may reduce the incidence of respiratory illness for infants during their first eight months of life, says a new study. Researchers report that only 65 percent of infants who received daily doses of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 experienced respiratory illnesses, compared with 94 percent of infants in the control group. The study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, is said to be the first to administer the probiotics using a pacifier – with the results supporting this as an interesting delivery system for infants. A soft and broad new slow-release pacifier has been developed to contain a pouch in which the food supplement tablet can be inserted. The delivery method was tested before the study began: the BB-12–xylitol tablet and the control xylitol tablet dissolved from the pouch of the pacifier both slowly and completely during 7 to 15 minutes of sucking.