No statistically significant subgroup differences were found according to infant risk of allergy or type of infant feed .
There is some evidence that a prebiotic supplement added to infant feeds may prevent eczema .
It is unclear whether the use of prebiotic should be restricted to infants at high risk of allergy or may have an effect in low risk population s ; or whether it may have an effect on other allergic diseases including asthma
BACKGROUND Prebiotics ( commonly oligosaccharides ) added to infant feeds have the potential to prevent sensitisation of infants to dietary allergens .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effect of prebiotic given to infants for the prevention of allergy .
Allergy development and the intestinal microflora during the first year of life.
BACKGROUND The intestinal microflora is a likely source for the induction of immune deviation  in infancy . OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to prospect ively relate the intestinal microflora to allergy development in 2 countries differing with respect to the prevalence of atopic diseases . METHODS Newborn infants were followed prospect ively through the first 2 years of life in Estonia ( n = 24 ) and Sweden ( n = 20 ) . By that age , 9 Estonian and 9 Swedish infants had developed atopic dermatitis and /or positive skin prick test results .  Stool sample s were obtained at 5 to 6 days and at 1 , 3 , 6 , and 12 months , and 13 groups of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms were cultivated through use of st and ard methods . RESULTS In comparison with healthy infants , babies who developed allergy were less often colonized with enterococci during the first month of life ( 72 % vs 96 % ; P < .05 ) and with bifidobacteria during the first year of life ( 17 % to 39 % vs 42 % to 69 % ; P < .05 ) . Furthermore , allergic infants had higher counts of clostridia at 3 months ( median value , 10.3 vs 7.2 log(10 ) ; P < .05 ) . The prevalence of colonization with Staphylococcus aureus was also higher at 6 months ( 61 % vs 23 % ; P < .05 ) , whereas the counts of Bacteroides were lower at 12 months ( 9.9 vs 10.6 log(10 ) ; P < .05 ) . CONCLUSION Differences in the composition of the gut flora between infants who will and infants who will not develop allergy are demonstrable before the development of any clinical manifestations of atopy . Because the observations were made in 2 countries with different st and ards of living , we believe that our findings could indicate a role for the intestinal microflora in the development of and protection from allergy
No statistically significant subgroup differences were found according to infant risk of allergy or type of infant feed .
There is some evidence that a prebiotic supplement added to infant feeds may prevent eczema .
It is unclear whether the use of prebiotic should be restricted to infants at high risk of allergy or may have an effect in low risk population s ; or whether it may have an effect on other allergic diseases including asthma
BACKGROUND Prebiotics ( commonly oligosaccharides ) added to infant feeds have the potential to prevent sensitisation of infants to dietary allergens .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effect of prebiotic given to infants for the prevention of allergy .