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This study was approved by the University of East Anglia (UEA) Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences Ethics Committee, and sample collection was in accordance with protocols laid out by the NRES approved UEA Biorepository (Licence no: 11208). Infants were born at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH, Norwich, UK) and The Rosie Hospital (Cambridge, UK) were recruited by doctors or nurses with informed and written consent obtained from parents. Both NICUs have similar protocols for feeding, prescription of antibiotics, and antifungal drugs with the exception that NNUH administered a probiotic treatment containing Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus acidophilus (i.e. Infloran®) to their infants from birth. |