Antibiotics in young kids can cause permanent asthma, allergies: Study.

ISLAMABAD -- Early exposure to antibiotics kills healthy bacteria in the digestive tract and can cause asthma and allergies, claims a new study conducted on mice.

The study, published in 'Mucosal Immunology', has provided the strongest evidence, so far, that the long-observed connection between antibiotic exposure in early childhood and later development of asthma and allergies is causal.

"The practical implication is simple: Avoid antibiotic use in young children whenever you can because it may elevate the risk of significant, long-term problems with allergy and/or asthma," said Martin Blaser, director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers University in the US.

In the study, the researchers from Rutgers, New York University and the University of Zurich, noted that antibiotics, "among the most used medications in children, affect gut microbiome communities and metabolic functions. These changes in microbiota structure can impact host immunity," Science Daily reported.

In the first part of the experiment, five-day-old mice received water, azithromycin or amoxicillin. After the mice matured, researchers exposed them to a common allergen derived from house dust mites. Mice that had received either of the antibiotics, especially azithromycin, exhibited elevated rates of immune responses -- i.e., allergies.

The second and third parts of the experiment tested the hypothesis that early exposure to antibiotics (but not later exposure) causes allergies and asthma by killing some healthy gut bacteria that support proper immune...