With the winter months approaching, it is anticipated that antibiotic prescriptions will continue to rise.
A newly published clinical research paper from ProVen Probiotics has revealed that preschool and primary school aged children who take a daily supplementation of a multistrain probiotic with low dose vitamin C are less likely to need antibiotic prescriptions.
It also indicated that this results in a lower incidence of upper respiratory tract infections, such as coughs and colds, and therefore less absent days from school and fewer GP visits.
Results were gathered in the randomised, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled trial in children from the ages of three and 10 years old.
In this study, the incidence rates for oral antibiotic prescriptions were largely lowered in children who received the probiotic/ vitamin C intervention compared to those who received the placebo.
A total of 42.3% of children in the placebo group received oral antibiotic prescriptions for any infection, compared to only 25.6% in the probiotic/vitamin C group.
This showed that children taking the ProVen Fit for School probiotic had a 40% less chance of being prescribed antibiotics over a six-month study period.
These results come following the publication of two comprehensive studies conducted by ProVen Probiotics that underscored the efficacy and consistent effect of their probiotic supplement.
Both studies, which were carried out six years apart and each ran for a six-month period primarily during the autumn and winter seasons, revealed that children who took the ProVen Fit for School probiotic chewable tablet each day experienced the following results:
- Up to 50% reduction in duration in all symptoms of coughs and colds (cough, sore throat, runny/blocked nose, sneezing)
- 30% reduction in the number of times over the six months that the children had symptoms of coughs and colds
- Longer time to the first episode of cough
- 16-30% reduction in absenteeism from school
- 18% reduction in visits to the doctor
- 27%-40% lower antibiotic usage in the Fit for School probiotic group compared to the placebo group.
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