MONTREAL A study presented last month before the European Respiratory Society Annual Congress determined that the branded probiotic ProbioKid reduced infectious events in children by 25% during the winter period, as compared with a placebo. The study was conducted during the winter of 2006-2007 and involved 135 healthy, school-aged children who had suffered from at least three episodes of ear-nose-throat, bronchopulmonary or gastric disorder during the course of the previous winter.

Half of the children in the probiotic group did not develop any ENT, bronchopulmonary or gastric disorder during the winter, versus 32.9% of children in the placebo group.

ProbioKid, distributed by Institut Rosell-Lallemand, contains a combination of three probiotic strains and a prebiotic.