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Babies, Antibiotics, and Asthma

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By Kris Kucera

Conventional wisdom tells us that babies and germs make a bad mix. Since children’s immune systems generally aren’t fully functional until their second birthday, diligent moms and dads pay special attention to cleanliness and proper sanitation. And when babies come down with bugs, well-intentioned pediatricians often prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics. Unfortunately, giving antibiotics to infants—even just one course—in their first year of life may double their susceptibility to asthma, compared to antibiotic-free babies, according to researchers from the University of British Columbia, along with BC’s Centre for Disease Control and Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation. Scrutinizing eight studies, which surveyed more than 12,000 children, the researchers’ data indirectly support the hygiene hypothesis—the idea that in developed countries, kids’ reduced exposure to germs may actually impede their immune responses. Critics argue that although pediatric exposure to germs is essential, certain bacterial infections necessitate antibiotic treatment as a safety measure. Also, they point out, the hygiene hypothesis fails in inner cities, where asthma rates in underprivileged youths have soared, even though most of these kids live amid substandard levels of hygiene. With the jury still out, concerned parents should ask their pediatricians for blood work before they agree to medicate their infants, preventing needless antibiotic treatments for viral infections or illnesses with undetermined causes.

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