Use of Antibiotics in Infancy and Asthma in Childhood: Confounded or Causal Relationship? A Critical Review of the Literature

Abstract

Childhood asthma is among the most common chronic lung diseases in the pediatric population, having substantial consequences on the everyday life of children and their caregivers. There remains a lack of a singular, efficacious strategy for averting the inception of childhood asthma. The rate of pediatric antibiotic usage continues to be high, which makes it crucial to understand whether there exists a causal link between the use of antibiotics in infancy and the development of asthma in childhood. In this rostrum, we conduct a critical review of the literature concerning the association of infant antibiotic use and the onset of childhood asthma. Drawing on the results of 5 meta-analyses addressing this topic and of a recent randomized controlled trial, a notable association emerges between antibiotic exposure in the first year of life and the occurrence of childhood asthma that appears to be beyond potential study limitations (such as reverse causation, confounding by indication, and recall bias). Furthermore, we highlight the need for additional research in this field that could improve our understanding of important aspects of this association and lead to the design of an intervention aimed to deliver antibiotics safely during early life and reduce the burden of childhood asthma.

Keywords: Antibiotics; Asthma; Children; Infants; Microbiome; Wheeze.