Antibiotics use in relation to asthma in children

Abstract

Background: Early-life antibiotic exposures have been reported to increase the risk of allergic diseases. The aim of the study was to examine the impact of current antibiotics use on asthma in schoolchildren in The Republic of Macedonia, as developing country with a high rate of antibiotics use and low prevalence of asthma. Method: Data from 2310 schoolchildren aged 5-15 years obtained through a parental-completed questionnaire in randomly selected primary schools in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, in 2015/2016 was used. The frequency of antibiotics intake ≥3 and <3 times yearly vs never antibiotics intake for respiratory infections, in the last 12 months was correlated to current asthma-like symptoms and ever-diagnosed asthma after adjustment for confounding factors using multiple logistic regression. Results: 50.9% of the children used antibiotics currently and 21.0% out of them used antibiotics ≥3 times yearly. Current wheeze (W) was established in 6.5%, sleep-disturbing W in 3.6%, exercised-induced W in 1.7%, dry night cough apart from a cold in 12.2% and asthma in 2.3%. Current antibiotics use ≥3 times yearly was positively associated with current W (aOR: 13.37; 6.14-29.11; p < 0.001), sleep-disturbing W (aOR: 7.87; 3.34-18.57; p < 0.002), dry night cough (aOR: 3.80; 2.29-6.29; p <0.001), and diagnosed asthma (aOR: 5.68; 1.96-16.50; p = 0.001) while antibiotics use <3 times yearly was positively associated only with current W (p = 0.003) and dry night cough (p = 0.011). Conclusion: The results suggest an aggravating role of antibiotics use on asthma in school age thus further supporting the recommended restriction of antibiotics exposure.