Background
There is insufficient evidence of preventive effect of probiotics on upper respiratory
tract infections (URTIs) in an elderly population.
Methods
We conducted a multicenter, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled parallel
group study. Elderly persons had participated who used day care at 4 facilities in
Tokyo. We used fermented milks containing Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) and placebo drinks as test drinks.
Results
A total of 154 subjects was analyzed. The number of persons diagnosed with an acute
URTIs was almost identical in both groups (LcS: 31, placebo: 32), whereas the number
of acute URTIs events (LcS: 68, placebo: 51) and the symptom score (LcS: 425, placebo:
396) were both higher in the LcS group. Permutation tests performed using the total
number of acute URTIs infection events/total days of observation and the total symptom
score/total days of observation found no statistically significant difference respectively
(P values of .89 and .64, respectively). Comparing the mean duration of infection per
infection event found a shorter mean duration in the LcS group (LcS: 3.71 days, placebo:
5.40 days), and the difference was statistically significant.
Conclusion
The results suggest that fermented milk containing LcS probably reduces the duration
of acute URTIs.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 25, 2013
Footnotes
Supported by Yakult Honsha Co, Ltd; however, the company had no involvement in the research.
Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
