Two recent studies have raised concerns about the potential long-term effects of antibiotic use during early childhood.
The first study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, found that frequent antibiotic use before the age of two is associated with an increased risk of developing asthma and food allergies later in childhood. Researchers analysed data from more than a million infants in the UK and tracked diagnoses of chronic conditions through age 12. Antibiotic exposure before two was associated with a 24 per cent increased risk of asthma and 33 per cent increased risk of food allergies in later childhood, as well as a 6 per cent increased risk of seasonal allergies, with stronger associations with multiple antibiotic courses.
Antibiotic overuse may disrupt the developing gut microbiome at a crucial stage in a child’s development, potentially altering immune responses. “Antibiotics are important and sometimes life-saving medicines, but not all infections in young kids need to be treated with antibiotics,” the study cautioned.
A second study, presented at the joint congress of the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and the European Society of Endocrinology, examined the link between early antibiotic use and the timing of puberty. South Korean researchers studied antibiotic exposure in 3.2 lakh children aged 0–12 months and followed them until the girls turned nine and the boys ten.
Early and frequent antibiotic use was associated with a significantly higher risk of early onset puberty in girls. Girls exposed to antibiotics before three months were 33 per cent more likely to start puberty early. The risk was 40 per cent higher for those exposed before 14 days. The risk increased with the number of antibiotic types: girls who received five or more had a 22 per cent higher risk than those who received two or fewer. No association was found between antibiotic intake and early puberty in boys.
