This study systematically reviewed and quantified the relationship between exposure to antibiotics during the first 2 years of life and the risk of allergies/atopies including hay fever, eczema, food allergy, positive skin prick testing (SPT), or elevated allergen-specific serum/plasma immunoglobulin (Ig) E levels later in life.PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched for observational studies published from January 1966 through November 11, 2015. Overall pooled estimates of the odds ratios (ORs) were obtained using fixed or random-effects models. Earlylife exposure to antibiotics appears to be related to an increased risk of allergic symptoms of hay fever, eczema, and food allergy later in life. The summary OR for the risk of hay fever (22 studies Early-life exposure to antibiotics has been related to some later life morbidities such as obesity, arthritis, asthma, and allergies. 6,7 A meta-analysis from 2006 showed a higher risk of asthma among those children exposed to antibiotics in early childhood. 8 However, a more recent meta-analysis from 2011 reported that the association between antibiotics exposure and subsequent development of wheeze/asthma was weak when the analysis was adjusted for reverse causation and confounding by indication.
9Several studies have suggested that early-life exposure to antibiotics is associated with an increased risk of developing allergies and atopies later in life, but results are inconsistent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess and quantify the relationship between early-life exposure to antibiotics and the risk of developing symptoms of hay fever, eczema, food allergy, positive skin prick testing (SPT), or elevated allergen-specific serum/plasma immunoglobulin (Ig) E levels later in life.Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio; IgE, immunoglobulin E; OR, odds ratio; SPT, skin prick test.