Babies' health ruined by antibiotics abuse

More evidence has emerged of the harm antibiotics can cause young children and how the drugs' abuse can increase the number of bacteria with antibiotic-resistant genes.

The Times, 21 June 2016

Yet in South Africa the overuse of antibiotics for treating children and babies continues, with one professor saying that GPs are "wilfully ignorant" or unaware of the dangers of the drugs, which are often prescribed for viral infections, on which they will have no effect.

Wits professor Guy Richards said the misuse of antibiotics was rife in South Africa. He said over 90 percent of antibiotics prescribed outside of a hospital are for viral infections, for which they don't work. About 30 percent of the ordinary bladder infections afflicting South Africans who are not hospitalised are resistant to many common antibiotics, according to the Department of Health, which launched its strategy to reduce antibiotic resistance in 2014.

The department says doctors should prescribe antibiotics only when necessary and not, for example, merely because a patient demands them. The state intends to improve vaccination coverage so that fewer drugs are prescribed. Two new studies in the US show that antibiotic use, C-sections and even formula feeding reduce the diversity of a child's gut bacteria for up to two years. Diversity of gut bacteria is important in the development of a baby's immune system and metabolism. A reduced diversity of the bacteria is linked to increased risk of contracting asthma and allergies, and of obesity and auto-immune disorders.

In one study, the development of 39 infants was followed by Harvard researchers Moran Yassour and Ramnik Xavier, of the Broad Institute, from birth to three years old. Stool samples were taken monthly to assess the diversity of their gut bacteria. Researchers found that the number of bacteria with antibiotic resistance genes peaked rapidly following antibiotic treatment before declining sharply. Some infants who had not been treated with antibiotics were nevertheless found to be carrying bacteria with antibiotic resistance genes.

Antibiotic resistance is expected to result in the deaths of up to 300 million people by 2050. The other study followed 43 New York babies for two years. The researchers found that babies delivered by Caesarean section, and toddlers given antibiotics or fed formula had decreased gut bacteria diversity. The babies of between 70 percent and 75 percent of women on medical aid schemes in South Africa are delivered by Caesarean. This is believed to be the highest rate in the world. Martin Blaser, professor of translational medicine at NYU School of Medicine, said the results provide evidence that modern practices change a baby's microbial communities in ways that last through the first year.