Kids given antibiotics before the age of 2 are at ‘greater risk of eczema and hayfever’
Early use of the drugs increases the risk of eczema by up to 41 per cent and hayfever by up to 56 per cent
Toddlers given antibiotics are at greater risk of suffering allergies in later life, experts warned today.
Kids prescribed the drugs before the age of two are more likely to develop eczema and hayfever, a new study suggests.
Past research has shown a link between early exposure to antibiotics and the unpleasant allergies. But, results have been inconsistent.
The new findings, from a team of researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, anaylsed studies spanning the time period January 1966 to November 2015.
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A total of 22 pieces of research were included in the new study.
They examined links between the drugs during the first two years of a child's life and the risk of eczema and hayfever in later life.
A total of 394,517 patients were included regarding eczema risk, while 256,609 people were involved in the study assessing the risk of hayfever.
The increased risk of eczema ranged from 15 to 41 per cent, depending on the type of study analysed.
And use of antibiotics in early life was also found to be associated to a risk of hayfever in later life, ranging from 14 to 56 per cent.
Furthermore, researchers led by Dr Fariba Ahmadizar, found the risk of both allergies was higher if patients had been treated with two courses compared with one course of antibiotics.
Dr Ahmadizar said it is thought the increased risk is caused, in part, by the disruption caused by the drugs to a person's gut bacteria or microbiome.
Disrupting a person's microbiome can lead to a reduce immune response.
Dr Ahmadizar said: "Early life exposure to antibiotics is related to an increased risk of both eczema and hayfever in later life."
The findings will be presented today at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in London.