When kids are exposed to antibiotics before age 2, they may be at greater risk for asthma (hazard ratio [HR] 1.24, 1.22-1.26), food allergy (HR 1.33, 1.26-1.40), and allergic rhinitis (HR 1.06, 1.03-1.10), according to a retrospective analysis published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. While the study doesn’t prove that early antibiotic exposure caused the conditions, the authors note that antibiotics do play a critical role in combatting bacterial infections. Researchers studied antibiotic exposure among 1 million kids through age 12 and found an association between antibiotics and the conditions above. They also analyzed the data for kids diagnosed with celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder but found no association with those conditions and antibiotic use.
Programs that work: In the past several years, the practice of urgent care medicine has emphasized the need for antibiotic stewardship, and it seems that programs are producing good results. Read the research summary in the JUCM archive: Abstracts in Urgent Care.