The results of a new study indicate that the use of probiotics in intensive care units (ICU) can cause bloodstream infections.

The study, published in Nature Medicine, was initiated following the detection of cases of bacteremia in Boston Children's Hospital's ICU caused by Lactobacillus, according to a news release. Lactobacillus a type of bacteria commonly found in probiotics.

A genomic investigation, coupled with bacterial DNA analysis, revealed that for a small percentage of ICU cases, the live bacteria in the probiotic formulations were associated with bloodstream infections. As the release notes, researchers suspect that the bacteria entered the bloodstream from the GI tract, but that it is also a possibility that they entered via patients' central lines.

To reduce the likelihood of probiotic-linked bloodstream infections, Boston Children's undertook a number of initiatives, including establishing new protocols requiring nurses to wear gloves before handling probiotic capsules, changing gloves before administering probiotics, covering central lines (when used) with a clean drape before opening the capsules and cleaning surfaces where the probiotic was prepared with a disinfectant.

It is commonplace for child and adult patients in the ICU to receive probiotics. As a Nutrition in Clinical Practice study notes, "Probiotics offer promise to ICU patients for the prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, Clostridium difficile infections, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and ventilator-associated pneumonia."