Infants Given Antibiotics at Risk for Allergy
(NY, Reuters Health, 9/30/03)

When Dr. Christine Cole Johnson of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, and team, analyzed the records of 445 children who participated in an HMO study in Michigan, the researchers found that about half of the subjects had received antibiotics within their first 6 months of life. Compared to the other children, those who had been treated with antibiotics were 1.7 times likelier to develop allergies and 2.5 times likelier to be diagnosed with allergic asthma by age 7. The association between antibiotic exposure and allergies was stronger for children who did not have pets, raising the possibility that an early lack of bacterial exposure, created by antibiotics and a sterile environment, may be related to a tendency to develop allergic conditions.