Do Probiotics Prevent Infection in Preterm Infants?

The benefits of routine probiotic administration to preterm infants to prevent infection have not been established. Alteration in the gut microbiome has been suggested as a risk factor for development of late-onset sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis in very-low-birth-weight infants. Probiotics have been proposed as a method of altering the gastrointestinal microbiome to make it more reflective of a term infant's.

In a multicenter, prospective, double-blind study in England, 1315 preterm infants (23–31 weeks gestational age) were randomized to receive once-daily Bifidobacterium breve (BBG-001) or placebo until 36 weeks gestational age or hospital discharge. Most infants (95%) received breast milk in the first two weeks of life.

There were no…