呼吸道感染是一種常見的疾病，好發於所有年齡層，其中又以幼兒、老人較為嚴重。一般治療的方式通常是給予支持性療法，當有細菌感染時，則會給予抗生素治療。但抗生素的使用，往往會造成病患腸胃不適、腹瀉及抗藥性的產生。近年來，許多的臨床試驗結果顯示，投與益生菌可以減少呼吸道感染的發生率、症狀、病程及降低抗生素的使用。這對於抗生素濫用及抗藥性日益嚴重的今日，或許提供了另一種不同的治療方式。

Respiratory tract infection is a common disease and occurs in all age, especially in children and the elderly are usually more serious. Usually when there is a bacterial infection, antibiotics are prescribed. However, the use of antibiotics often causes patients gastrointestinal discomfort, diarrhea and drug resistance. In recent years, many of the clinical trial results showed that administration of probiotics can reduce the incidence of respiratory tract infections, symptoms, duration of disease and reduce the use of antibiotics. So that probiotics may provide another way to prevent respiratory tract infection.