Antibiotics directed before age 2 are connected to ongoing conditions

Overview

• Post By : Kumar Jeetendra


• Source: Mayo Clinic


• Date: 16 Nov,2020

In a retrospective case study, Mayo Clinic researchers have found that antibiotics administered to children younger than 2 are associated with several ongoing illnesses or ailments, which range from allergies to obesity. The findings appear in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Using health record data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a population-based research cooperation in Minnesota and Wisconsin, researchers examined data from over 14,500 children.

About 70 percent of the children had received at least one treatment with antibiotics for illness before age 2. Children getting multiple antibiotic therapies were more likely to have several illnesses or conditions later in childhood.

Types and frequency of disease varied depending on age, type of medication, dose and number of doses. There were some differences between girls and boys.

The authors speculate that although antibiotics may only transiently alter the microbiome, the selection of germs in the body, this may have long-term health consequences.

While recent data show an increase in some of the childhood conditions involved in the analysis, experts aren’t certain why. Besides the issue of multidrug resistance, antibiotics have been presumed safe by most pediatricians.

Researchers also say the ultimate aim is to offer practical guidelines for doctors on the safest way to use antibiotics early in life.