For the good of your children

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1001064200.htm

Study Shows Link Between Antibiotics And Allergies, Asthma

Children who receive antibiotics within their first six months of birth
increase their risk of developing by age 7 allergies to pets, ragweed, grass
and dust mites and asthma, according to study conducted at Henry Ford Hospital
in Detroit.

However, they are less susceptible to these effects if they live with at least
two pets, namely dogs or cats, in the first year.

Researchers also say breast-feeding and a mother's history of allergies add to
the risks of allergy for a child taking antibiotics.

The study's findings are believed to be the first of its kind in the United
States that found a link between antibiotics and allergies and asthma in
children.

Christine Cole Johnson, Ph.D., the study's lead author and senior research
epidemiologist for Henry Ford's Department of Biostatistics & Research
Epidemiology, will present the study Sept. 30 at the European Respiratory
Society's annual conference in Vienna.

"I'm not suggesting children shouldn't receive antibiotics. But I believe we
need to be more prudent in prescribing them for children at such an early age,"
Dr. Johnson says. "In the past, many of them were prescribed unnecessarily,
especially for viral infections like colds and the flu when they would have no
effect anyway."

Dr. Johnson theorizes that use of antibiotics may affect the gastrointestinal
tract and alter the development of a child's immune system.

The increasing use of antibiotics in children from 1977 to the early 1990s led
to what federal health officials called a public health crisis in antibiotic
resistance. A national campaign commissioned by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention has sought to promote a more judicious approach for
prescribing antibiotics for children.

For the Henry Ford study, researchers followed 448 children from birth to seven
years. The children were evenly divided by gender.

Data was collected prenatally and at the first four birthdays until the
children were 6 and 7 years old, when they underwent a clinical evaluation by a
board-certified allergist. The data included information about all prescribed
oral antibiotics; blood tests that measure the antibody (immunoglobulin E) that
causes allergies; and skin reaction tests that show whether a person is
hypersensitive to an allergen. Researchers also collected data on all clinical
visits and made home visits to collect environmental samples.

Of the 448 children, 49 percent had received antibiotics in the first six
months of life. The most common antibiotic category prescribed was penicillin.

Among the findings:

* By age 7, children given at least one antibiotic in the first six months were
1.5 times more likely to develop allergies than those who did not receive
antibiotics. They were 2.5 times more likely to develop asthma.

* By age 7, children given at least one antibiotic in the first six months and
who lived with fewer than two pets were 1.7 times more likely to develop
allergies, and three times more likely to develop asthma.

* By age 7, children given at least one antibiotic in the first six months and
whose mother had a history of allergies were nearly twice as likely to develop
allergies.

* By age 7, children given at least one antibiotic in the first six months and
who were breast-fed for more than four months were three times more likely to
develop allergies. However, breast-feeding did not influence the risk between
antibiotics and asthma.