Your Health

Keep Real Cooties at Bay

Posted: 1/7/2012

Keep your children healthy during the school year with preventive measures, like probiotics.

(NewsUSA) - The infectious disease known to children as "cooties" may not really exist, but the idea of advancing germs jumping from classmate to classmate isn't very far off.

Despite all efforts to the contrary, schools tend to be a receptacle for all kinds of bad bacteria and germs. Most harmful bacteria are absorbed through the mouth, which can lead to ear infections, sore throats, colds, even gum disease.

Kids will be kids, and sometimes it's impossible to stop them from shoving every little object into their mouths -- which is why germ-related illness, like cooties, can spread quickly.

While chants of "circle circle, dot dot, now you have your cootie shot" won't do much to prevent germs in schools, a real solution has arrived from New Zealand.

Researchers at BLIS Technologies and Otago University in New Zealand recently discovered a new type of probiotic that, in early clinical trials, can help keep cooties away. Unlike current probiotics on grocery store shelves meant for digestion, this probiotic is for the mouth. There, beneficial probiotic bacteria can help defend kids and adults from germs that cause a variety of unpleasant conditions -- sore throats, ear aches, persistent sniffles and more.

In the U.S. this new probiotic is now being introduced at

Walgreens stores under the TheraBreath label. TheraBreath Multi Symptom Oral Care Probiotics is the first product that effectively targets hostile bacteria in the oral cavity and throat, where the majority of illness-causing germs enter the body.

The probiotic also protects teeth from bacterial cavities and tooth decay as it reduces plaque and biofilm. The patented strain has been shown to break up the natural glue that allows these substances to stick to tooth and gum tissue. As biofilm is removed, teeth even regain a natural whiter luster. TheraBreath improves overall gum health and strengthens germ resistance. For more info about oral care, visit www.therabreath.com/probiotics.