A study published yesterday (April 27) in Pediatrics finds that children who received antibiotic treatment in the first two years of life had a diminished immune response to four common vaccines. Researchers say Scientific news that the results constitute a warning against the overuse of antibiotics.
Babies are usually immunized against various diseases during the first six months of life and receive boosters during their second year. From 2000 to 2016, the study authors collected blood samples from 560 children ages 6 to 24 months during routine visits to their pediatricians, measuring antibody levels after the children received polio. , diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type B and pneumococcal vaccines.
Among these children, 342 were collectively prescribed nearly 1,700 courses of antibiotics. The other 218 children did not receive antibiotics. The team analyzed whether antibody levels induced by the four vaccines met the threshold for what is considered protective and found that at 9 and 12 months, children who received antibiotic treatment were significantly more likely to have lower-than-average antibody levels than those who received antibiotic treatment. did not have. The immune response was lower in children who received multiple courses of antibiotics than in those who received one course, with each dose of antibiotics associated with 5 to 11 percent lower antibody levels after the initial and subsequent vaccinations. 12 to 21 percent lower antibodies after booster shots. .
The study did not assess actual rates of illness in children, and some studies noted that antibody levels are sometimes imperfect predictors of immune protection against disease.
“If anyone needed another reason why overprescribing antibiotics is not a good thing, this article offers that reason,” says immunologist Bali Pulendran of the University of Medicine’s Faculty of Medicine. Stanford, which was not involved in the study. Science News.
The association varied according to the type and duration of antibiotic treatment. Broad-spectrum drugs, which target a wide range of bacteria, were associated with antibody levels below what is protective, while more targeted antibiotics were not. Ten-day courses, but not five-day courses, were associated with a reduction in vaccine-induced antibody levels.
Antibiotics are known to affect intestinal microbiotawhich in turn influences a wide range of body systems, including the immune system. The study authors suggest that antibiotics could have a negative effect on children’s gut health by decreasing the diversity of bacteria in the gut, which in turn could decrease the effectiveness of the vaccine. Scientific news reports that this new study adds to existing evidence that gut health may affect response to vaccination.
See “Gut microbes drive flu vaccine success: clinical trial»
According to Scientific news, Michael Pichichero, study co-author and pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Rochester General Hospital Research Institute in New York, and colleagues are beginning a study with a new group of children to see what types changes occur in the gut bacteria. The researchers plan to collect stool samples as well as blood draws and records of antibiotic use. They would like to follow children beyond age 5, beyond when children receive another round of boosters, to find out whether antibiotics also interfere with this next opportunity to develop antibodies.
“Antibiotics are miracle drugs,” says Pichichero Scientific news. “This study in no way means that children who need an antibiotic should not receive one.”
