Loading...
Mastitis is common among lactating mothers and can end breast-feeding prematurely. Because drug-resistant staphylococci often are implicated in this infection, researchers in Spain evaluated probiotics as an alternative treatment to antibiotics.
In a double-blind randomized prospective study, 251 postpartum women with mastitis received one of two oral probiotic preparations consisting of freeze-dried strains of lactobacilli isolated from human breast milk; 101 women in the control group received various antibiotics. At day 21, mean bacterial counts in breast milk were significantly lower among women in the two probiotics groups, who also reported greater resolution of breast pain. Mastitis recurrence rates were higher among antibiotic recipi…