Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 Jul;60(3):276-81.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2014.03.021. Epub 2014 Apr 13.

Specific probiotics and virological findings in symptomatic conscripts attending military service in Finland

Liisa Lehtoranta  1 , Kim Kalima  2 , Liang He  3 , Maija Lappalainen  4 , Merja Roivainen  5 , Mervi Närkiö  6 , Mika Mäkelä  7 , Simo Siitonen  2 , Riitta Korpela  8 , Anne Pitkäranta  9
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Specific probiotics and virological findings in symptomatic conscripts attending military service in Finland

Liisa Lehtoranta et al. J Clin Virol. 2014 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Viral upper respiratory tract infections occur frequently among conscripts. Probiotics have reduced viral infections in children attending day care. Limited data are available on the effects of probiotics on the nasopharyngeal presence of respiratory viruses.

Objectives: To assess, whether probiotics could decrease nasopharyngeal occurrence of respiratory viruses in Finnish conscripts.

Study design: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 90- and 150-day intervention study, 239 nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from 192 symptomatic conscripts receiving daily chewable probiotic tablet containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12 (46.9%) or control tablet (53.1%) on visits to a garrison's health care center due to symptoms of infection. The presence of respiratory viruses was tested by PCR-methods, and viral findings were compared between the intervention groups.

Results: 184 (76.9%) nasopharyngeal samples were positive for at least one respiratory virus. Picornaviruses were the most common viruses and were detected in 155 (84.2%) of samples. Of these, 143 (92.3%) were rhinovirus-positive and 20 (12.9%) were enterovirus-positive. The control group had 83 (64%) and the probiotic group 72 (66%) picornavirus infections (p=0.79). Monthly distribution of picornaviruses showed that there were less picornavirus findings after 3 months in the probiotic group than in the control group (p=0.0069). However, probiotics did not reduce picornavirus occurrence in other months.

Conclusions: Overall, probiotics did not reduce viral occurrence in symptomatic conscripts. However, probiotics decreased the presence of picornaviruses after 3 months, which may imply that probiotics play a role against viruses causing common cold. Further investigations are necessary to clarify the mechanisms involved in order to target specific probiotics on specific respiratory viruses.

Keywords: Conscript; Probiotic; Respiratory virus; Rhinovirus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Monthly distribution (%) of virus positive and negative findings in all conscripts who participated in the intervention study from July 2012 to January 2013 in Finland. The numbers of positive and negative findings were compared with the total number of collected samples in each month. Abbreviations: PIV, parainfluenza virus; AdV, adenovirus, hMPV, human metapneumovirus; RSV, respiratory syncytial virus.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Monthly distribution of picornavirus findings in military recruits (A) and reserve officer candidates (B) between the intervention groups from July 2012 to January 2013 in Finland. Differences between the groups were analyzed using the Fisher exact-test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Vartti A.-M., Mäkitie I., Aro A., Henriksson M., Jormanainen V., Nikkari S. The perceptions and knowledge of conscripts concerning influenza in the beginning of military service. Suomen Lääkärilehti. 2009;64:3303–3310. Summary http://www.laakarilehti.fi/e/summary.html?type=4/news_id=7845/Influenza (in Finnish)
    1. Juvonen R., Bloigu A., Peitso A., Silvennoinen-Kassinen S., Saikku P., Leinonen M. Risk factors for acute respiratory tract illness in military conscripts. Respirology. 2008;13:575–580. - PubMed
    1. Savolainen-Kopra C., Korpela T., Simonen-Tikka M.L., Amiryousefi A., Ziegler T., Roivainen M. Single treatment with ethanol hand rub is ineffective against human rhinovirus-hand washing with soap and water removes the virus efficiently. J Med Virol. 2012;84:543–547. - PubMed
    1. FAO/WHO . World Health Oraganization; 2002. Guidelines for the evaluation of probiotics in food. Report of a joint FAO/WHO working group on drafting guidelines for the evaluation of probiotics in food.ftp://ftp.fao.org/es/esn/food/wgreport2.pdf
    1. Hao Q., Lu Z., Dong B.R., Huang C.Q., Wu T. Probiotics for preventing acute upper respiratory tract infections. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011;9:CD006895. - PubMed

Publication types