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According to a review of studies that probed the benefits of probiotics, the use of probiotics is linked to reduced need for antibiotic treatment in infants and children. The study, supported in part by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics found that when the results from twelve studies were pooled together, infants and children were 29% percent less likely to have been prescribed antibiotics if they received probiotics as a daily health supplement. When the analysis was repeated with only the highest quality studies, this percentage increased to 53%.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, there are about two million cases of antibiotic resistant infections yearly, reducing the use of antibiotics is one strategy in combatting resistance. Consuming probiotics reduces the incidence, duration, and severity of certain types of common acute respiratory and gastrointestinal infections.
Human immune system is found in the gastrointestinal tract, ingesting healthy bacteria may competitively exclude bacterial pathogens linked to gut infections and may prime the immune system to fight others. The probiotics used in the reviewed studies were strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.