Reduction of Rotavirus Infection in Children Receiving Bifidobacteria-Supplemented Formula
PORNPIMON PHUAPRADIT, M.D.*, KANDA VATHANOPHAS,M.D.**, AMORNRATH PODHIPAK, Ph.D.**, SUPACHARA NOPCHINDA, D.Sc.***, FERDINAND HASCHKE M.D.***** WANDEE V ARA VITHYA, M.D.*, RAWIWAN SANGCHAI, M.P.H.**, UMAPORN SUTHUTVORAVUT,M.D*, VINITTA CHANTRARUKSA, B. H. E.****,
Affiliation : *Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, ** Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, *** Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, **** Division of Food and Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. *****Nestle' Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland.
This study was conducted at Pakkred Babies Home, Bangkok, Thailand; with the hypo- thesis that children receiving probiotic-supplemented milk-based formula may be protected from developing diarrheal diseases. Salivary rotavirus-specific lgA antibody was used as an indicator of rotavirus infection. One hundred and seventy-five children, aged 6-36 months, were enrolled in the study. They were divided into 3 groups according to the type of formula given. There were 81 episodes of diarrhea during an 8-month study period, most of which were caused by bacterial enteropathogens. Ninety-seven pairs of salivary samples were adequate for the ana- lysis of rotavirus antibody. Among 23 children receiving milk-based follow-up f0rmula and serving as control group, 30.4 per cent of them had ~ 4-fold increase in the antibody titre, indicating subclinical rotavirus infection. The majority of children in the other 2 study groups, receiving the same formula supplemented with either Bifidobacterium Bbl2 alone or together with Streptococcus thermophilus, had no significant change in the antibody titres between the two time points. The results of this study support our hypothesis that children receiving bifidobacteria-supplemented milk-based formula may be protected against symptomatic rotavirus infection.
Keywords : Rotavirus Infection, Probiotic-Supplemented Formula
