Infants who are exposed to antibiotics in their first year of life may have an increased risk of developing childhood asthma, says new research appearing in the journal CHEST. The University of British Columbia researchers behind the study say that children under the age of one who were treated with an antibiotic were twice as likely as untreated children to develop asthma in childhood. Additionally, the use of multiple antibiotics in infants appeared to further increase the risk of developing asthma. Author of the study, Carlo Marra, said that the nature of the link was still a mystery. "Although the causal nature between antibiotics and asthma is still unclear, our overall results show that treatment with at least one antibiotic as an infant appears to be associated with the development of childhood asthma."
The findings were based on a meta-study of previous research that compared exposure to at least one antibiotic to no exposure in the first year of life. Overall, more than 12,000 children were included in the analysis. Interestingly, the results showed that high-risk infants, such as those with a family history of atopy, exposed to antibiotics had a lower risk of developing asthma than children in the general population.
In general, the study showed that additional courses of antibiotics appeared to further increase the risk for asthma development, prompting a note of caution from the researchers. "In children, antibiotics are commonly used to treat ear infections, upper respiratory tract infections, and bronchitis, but not every childhood infection requires an antibiotic," said co-researcher Fawziah Marra. "Current guidelines recommend that children under age 2 receive an antibiotic for diagnosed ear infection. However, the majority of upper respiratory tract infections and bronchitis is viral for which antibiotics are ineffective."
Commenting on the study, W. Michael Alberts, President of the American College of Chest Physicians, said that the new findings could help reduce the number of children suffering from asthma. "By identifying potential risk factors for asthma and educating patients and families about risk factors, we may begin to see a reduction in the overall incidence of asthma."
Source: American College of Chest Physicians
