Bacteriotherapy for preventing recurrent upper respiratory infections in children: a real-world experience

Background: Recurrent upper respiratory infections (RURI) constitute a social problem for both their pharmaco-economic impact and the burden for the family. Bacteriotherapy could be an interesting preventive option. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the preventive effects of RURI in children. Design: The study was designed as spontaneous and was conducted in real-life setting. Globally, 80 children (40 males, mean age 5.26 (2.52) years) with RURI were enrolled. Children were treated with Streptococcus salivarius 24SMB and Streptococcus oralis 89a: nasal spray 2 puffs per nostril twice/day for a week for 3 monthly courses. Number of URI, and school and work absences were evaluated and compared with the past year. Results: Bacteriotherapy significantly halved the mean number of URI episodes being 5.98 (2.30) in the past year and 2.75 (2.43) after the treatment (p<0.0001). Bacteriotherapy also induced an over 35% reduction both in the number of school days and in the number of working days missed per month from 4.50 (2.81) to 2.80 (3.42) and from 2.33 (2.36) to 1.48 (2.16), respectively (p<0.0001). Conclusions: This real-life study provides the first evidence that Streptococcus salivarius 24SMB and Streptococcus oralis 89a nasal spray could be effective in preventing RURI in children.