ABSTRACT
The human body is host to a varied and significant community of microbes, with the large intestine being the location of the vast majority of bacteria. This chapter details the available data from human studies, reporting the effects of dietary prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics upon responses to vaccination. These studies reflect a diverse field of research, with variations in cohort age, geographical population studied, intervention period, vaccination type, and vaccination route. Using vaccination responses as a proxy for assessing changes in immune function provides insight into the overall efficacy of the coordinated function of a wide range of immune processes. Five studies were identified, which assessed the effects of probiotics on vaccine responses in infants and children. These include studies of healthy-term infants, infants identified as being at high risk of developing atopic disease, infants who had previously been hospitalized with acute illness, and children within a developing country.
