The ProChild-2 Study
SUMMARY
Aim
This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study assessed the impact of the Lab4 probiotic with low dose of vitamin C combination on the prevention of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) symptoms and absenteeism in children aged 3 to 10 years.
Method
![pro child 2 method URTI symptoms](https://lab4probiotics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/pro-child-2-method-copy.png)
Results
URTI symptoms
• 16% significant reduction in the incidence of coughing in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (Fig 1, *P<0.05).
• 20% significant reduction in the incidence of sore throats in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (Fig 1, *P<0.05).
• Only 5.8% children in Group 2 had all five URTI symptoms on one day compared to 18.8% children in Group 1 (P<0.05). URTI symptoms included cough, sore throat, sneezing, runny/blocked nose.
• 79% significant reduction in the incidence of episodes with all five URTI symptoms on one day (Fig 2, *P<0.0001)
![pro child 2 graph 1 Incidence of URTI symptoms](https://lab4probiotics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/pro-child-2-graph-1.png)
![](https://lab4probiotics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/pro-child-2-graph-2-amended-23.png)
Absenteeism
![pro child 2 graph 3 Incidence of absence from school](https://lab4probiotics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/pro-child-2-graph-3.png)
• 16% significant reduction in the incidence of absenteeism from preschool/school in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (Fig 3, *P<0.05).
Paediatric physician’s visit and antibiotic usage
![pro child 2 graph 4 Incidence of GP visits and antibiotic usage](https://lab4probiotics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/pro-child-2-graph-4-copy.png)
Improvement in intestinal health
![pro child 2 graph 5 Incidence of stool consistency](https://lab4probiotics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/pro-child-2-graph-5-copy.png)
Conclusion
Lab4 probiotics in combination with low dose of vitamin C reduce the incidence of coughing, sore throats together with absence from school and antibiotic use.
To our knowledge, this is the first time two probiotic studies (ProChild and ProChild-2) with the same intervention for same duration showed the beneficial effect in the management of URTIs in children attending school.