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Antibiotics might increase risk of developing allergies in infants: Study

The researchers looked into the antibiotic prescriptions during their childhoods and allergy diagnoses. It was found out that about 17 per cent of them were treated with one or more courses of antibiotics.




Administering antibiotics to infants might increase the risk of developing allergies, states a report in The New York Times while quoting a study. To arrive at the result, researchers examined records of 798,426 children from the Military Health System database from the years 2001 to 2013. They looked into the antibiotic prescriptions during their childhoods and allergy diagnoses. It was found out that about 17 per cent of them were treated with one or more courses of antibiotics.

Sidney E Zven, a medical student at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and lead author, said, “This is an association, and more research is needed to determine causality. We don’t want to raise fears of antibiotics. When a child needs an antibiotic, he should absolutely get it. But we have to tell parents why we are, or are not, prescribing them. It’s really important to focus on antibiotic stewardship. From my perspective, that’s a major implication of the study.”

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