Prophylactic probiotics to prevent death and nosocomial infection in preterm infants.

Background And Objective: It has been suggested that probiotics may decrease infant mortality and nosocomial infections because of their ability to suppress colonization and translocation of bacterial pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract. We designed a large double-blinded placebo-controlled trial using Lactobacillus reuteri to test this hypothesis in preterm infants.

Methods: Eligible infants were randomly assigned during the first 48 hours of life to either daily probiotic administration or placebo.