Prebiotics in healthy infants and children for prevention of acute infectious diseases: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

Prebiotics, defined as nondigestible dietary ingredients resistant to gastric acidity and fermented by the intestinal flora, are used to positively influence the composition of intestinal flora, thereby promoting health benefits. The objective of this systematic review was to assess the efficacy of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nutrition reviews 2014-08, Vol.72 (8), p.523-531
Main Authors: Lohner, Szimonetta, Küllenberg, Daniela, Antes, Gerd, Decsi, Tamás, Meerpohl, Joerg J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
acidity
acute infection
antibiotics
Bacterial Infections - prevention & control
Biological and medical sciences
Child
children
Childrens health
confidence interval
Dietary supplements
Disease prevention
Feeding. Feeding behavior
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Health promotion
Humans
Infant
infants
Infectious diseases
ingredients
intestinal microorganisms
oligosaccharide
Pediatrics
prebiotic
Prebiotics
prevention
randomized clinical trials
Systematic review
therapeutics
Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
Virus Diseases - prevention & control
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Summary:Prebiotics, defined as nondigestible dietary ingredients resistant to gastric acidity and fermented by the intestinal flora, are used to positively influence the composition of intestinal flora, thereby promoting health benefits. The objective of this systematic review was to assess the efficacy of prebiotics in the prevention of acute infectious diseases in children. A systematic literature search was conducted using the Ovid Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library's Central databases. Finally, five randomized controlled trials, all of them investigating infants and children 0–24 months of age, were included in the review. Pooled estimates from three studies revealed a statistically significant decrease in the number of infectious episodes requiring antibiotic therapy in the prebiotic group as compared with the placebo group (rate ratio 0.68; 95% confidence interval 0.61–0.77). Studies available indicate that prebiotics may also be effective in decreasing the rate of overall infections in infants and children 0–24 months of age. Further studies in the age group 3–18 years are required to determine whether prebiotics can be considered for the prevention of acute infectious diseases in the older pediatric population.
ISSN:0029-6643
1753-4887
DOI:10.1111/nure.12117