Maternal antibiotic use and child asthma: is the association causal?

Global antibiotic use has risen 65% worldwide and 114% in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2015 [1]. During pregnancy, anywhere from 20% to over 40% of women may receive a course of antibiotics [2, 3], and antibiotics account for 80% of medications used by pregnant women in the USA [4]. Although antibiotics in pregnancy can treat many infections, including bacterial vaginosis and urinary tract infections, they may also have unintended adverse consequences [4]. Given the ubiquitous exposure to antibiotics in pregnancy, even a small adverse effect of maternal antibiotic use on health outcomes in the mother or her child could pose a substantial public health problem.
Source: European Respiratory Journal - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Editorials Source Type: research