Probiotics reduce URI's in college students

College students are susceptible to upper respiratory infections (URI) due to inadequate sleep, stress and close living quarters. Certain probiotic strains modulate immune function and may improve health-related quality of life during URI. The study in the October issue of British Journal of Nutrition recruited healthy college students and assessed the effect of probiotics on self-reported duration, symptom severity and functional impairment in those who developed URI. Missed school and work days due to URI were also considered. 

Subjects were randomized to receive placebo or probiotic-containing powder (daily dose of minimum 1 billion colony-forming units of each Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG® (LGG®) and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12®) for 12 weeks. The median duration of URI was significantly shorter by two days and median severity score was significantly lower by 34 % with probiotics versus placebo, indicating a higher quality of life.