The goal of the review was to determine if a relationship, causal or not exists between asthma diagnosis in children and antibiotic use. Earlier studies had found conflicting evidence and often it was not discernable which came first, the antibiotic use or the predilection for developing asthma later in life.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver examined past clinical studies involving over 12,000 children and a total of 1,817 cases of asthma. There primary focus was to document those children who received antibiotic treatment at less than 1 year of age and cross those with cases of asthma diagnosed during childhood (age 1-18).
What they found was that the likelihood of developing asthma in childhood doubled if antibiotics were given for treatment anytime before reaching the first birthday.
These findings are still controversial, because one can claim that children who are more likely to develop asthma may be more prone to developing upper respiratory infections (URI) and so may be more likely to be given antibiotics at less than a year of age.
One of the primary authors states that these results can alert doctors to be more definitive when prescribing antibiotics, which can be overused in children for URI. The most common URI, bronchitis and pharyngitis are often viral in nature and cannot be treated using antibiotics.
Posted by Kristopher Foster on April 10, 2006 06:16 PM
