Study Explains Antibiotic Use Alone is not Related to Childhood Asthma

The use of antibiotics medicines are not linked to the development of childhood asthma, according to a study.

Past study suggest giving antibiotics can affect the immune system in new born babies making them vulnerable to a list of allergies and asthma in later years. Researchers from the University of Manchester found children who were given antibiotic treatment before their first birthday are twice as likely as untreated children to suffer chronic wheezing or asthma exacerbation at age 11.  For the study, they used data from Manchester Asthma and Allergy study (MAAS) involving more than 1000 children who were followed for 11 years. Experts also noted medical records, antibiotic prescriptions and asthma symptoms. The participants underwent skin reaction tests when aged three, five, eight and 11 years.

When the subjects were 11, the researchers collected blood samples of those who had received at least one shot or no antibiotics in first year of their lives to observe their immune responses to common cold virus and Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumonia bacteria. Furthermore, the study analyzed genetic variations on chromosome 17 called as 17q21 impacted by use of antibiotic medications.

It was observed that children who were lacking cytokines that fight against virus infections and presence two genes in 17q21 region that was related to early antibiotic prescription experienced asthma or related symptoms. These results debunk the notion about antibiotics alone can impair immunity by killing gut bacteria. In fact these findings strongly point that the body's immune system and genetic alteration in 17q21 are key factors for asthma in later years.

"We speculate that hidden factors which increase the likelihood of both antibiotic prescription in early life and subsequent asthma are an increased susceptibility to viral infections due to impaired antiviral immunity and genetic variants on 17q21," said Adnan Custovic, study author and professor at Institute of Inflammation and Repair based at The University of Manchester in a news release.

"However, further studies will be needed to confirm that the impaired immunity was present at the time of the early childhood respiratory symptoms and predated antibiotic prescribing rather than as a consequence of the antibiotics."

More information is available online in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.