Antibiotic Use in Young Children Leads to Asthma, Allergies Later

Children who receive antibiotics within the first 2 years of life have an increased risk of developing asthma and allergies by age 5, according to a recent study.

Prevalence of allergies around the world has rapidly increased within the past several decades. The overuse of antibiotics has also increased worldwide. Therefore, the researchers aimed to investigate whether there is a connection.
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In the Tokyo Children’s Health, Illness, and Development (T-CHILD) Study, the researchers recruited 1701 pregnant women at the first antenatal visit at the National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo, Japan, from 2003 through 2005.

A hospital-based birth cohort of 1550 newborns was formed between March 2004 and August 2006. The researchers identified signs of asthma and allergic diseases via medical charts and use of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire, which was distributed to mothers during pregnancy.

Additional questionnaires assessing children’s exposures and health outcomes were sent to parents when their children reached ages 2 years and 5 years, respectively. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the effect of antibiotic use on outcomes related to asthma and allergic disease later in life.

Of 1701 pregnant women enrolled in the T-CHILD Study, a total of 1323 (77.8%) participants completed and returned the questionnaire when children reached age 2 years, and 1196 (70.3%) participants did so when their children reached age 5 years.

Results showed that exposure to antibiotics in children within the first 2 years of life was associated with current asthma, current atopic dermatitis, and current allergic rhinitis at age 5 years. Analysis by type of antibiotics indicated that cephem was related to current asthma and current rhinitis, and macrolide was related to current atopic dermatitis.

“Our findings suggest that antibiotic use within the first 2 years of life was a risk factor for current asthma, current atopic dermatitis, and current allergic rhinitis in 5-year-old children,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Yamamoto-Hanada K, Yang L, Narita M, Saito H, Ohya Y. Influence of antibiotic use in early childhood on asthma and allergic diseases at age 5. 2017;119(1):54-58. doi:10.1016/j.anai.2017.05.013.