New Study Finds Early Exposure to Antibiotics in Infants Leads to Higher Risk of Infections in Childhood

A new study of over 20,000 children found that “those who had early exposure to antibiotics had higher risk of infections and antibiotic use later in childhood.” CIDRAP has the news.

The study found that “children with early antibiotic exposure had a significantly higher risk of several types of infections and antibiotic use compared with those who had no early exposure, with the highest risk observed in children who received antibiotics during the first week of life. Children with early antibiotic exposure also had a significantly higher risk of being diagnosed with asthma.”

Antibiotics are “the most commonly used medications in young children, but they are frequently overused.” There exists a growing body of literature associating antibiotics with an “increased risk of a variety of diseases and conditions outcomes later in childhood, including infections, immune-mediated diseases, obesity, and neurodevelopmental disorders.” The hypothesis is that “early exposure to antibiotics might disrupt the developing microbiome and immune system in a way that makes children more susceptible to infections and other ailments as they get older.”

The cohort of 22,393 children studied as part of the research was “divided into four groups according to antibiotic exposure.” For all three antibiotic-exposure types, “the risk of respiratory infections, gastrointestinal infections, urinary tract infections, and filled antibiotic prescriptions was significantly higher than the control group of infants with no antibiotic exposure.” Further research in larger groups of children is still needed, but “the authors say the observed late side-effects of early antibiotic exposure provide another argument for judicious antibiotic use in children.”