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(T. Blisnick, P. Ave, M. Huerre, E. Carniel, C.E. Demeure. 2008. Oral vaccination against bubonic plague using a live avirulent Yersinia pseudotuberculosis strain. Infection and Immunity, 76. 8: 3808-3816.)

Oral Administration of Lactobacillus from Breast Milk May Treat Common Infection in Lactating Mothers

Oral administration of lactobacillus strains found in breast milk may provide an alternative method to antibiotics for effectively treating mastitis, a common infection that occurs in lactating mothers say researchers from Spain. They report their findings in the August 2008 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Mastitis, inflammation of one or more lobules of the mammary gland, occurs in anywhere from 3 to 33% of lactating mothers and of those incidences 75 to 95% are diagnosed within the first twelve weeks postpartum. While Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis are considered to be the main infectious agents associated with mastitis, increased multi-drug resistance to antibiotics are making such infections difficult to treat, therefore prompting researchers to explore alternative treatment options.

In prior studies researchers collected lactobacillus strains from the breast milk of healthy mothers and found the probiotic potential of Lactobacillus gasseri and Lactobacillus salivarious to be comparable to strains currently used in commercial probiotic products. Here the researchers randomly divided twenty women diagnosed with staphylococcal mastitis into two groups, a probiotic group and a control. The probiotic group received the same daily dosage of L. salivarius and L. gasseri for four weeks, both of which were originally isolated from breast mil
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