Impact analysis of infant antibiotic exposure on the burden of asthma: a simulation modeling study.

Background: Infant antibiotic use is associated with increased risk of asthma. We examined the population impact of antibiotic exposure in the first year of life on the burden of pediatric asthma in British Columbia, Canada, using simulation modeling.

Methods: We performed a Bayesian meta-analysis of empirical studies to construct dose-response equations between antibiotic exposure in the first year of life and pediatric (<19 years of age) asthma.

Pets and related allergens modify the association between early life DEHP exposure and respiratory outcomes in children.

Introduction: Throughout the perinatal period children are exposed to complex mixtures, including indoor chemicals such as phthalates, and biological agents. However, few studies focus on interactions between early-life co-exposures to shed light on how co-exposures modify their individual effects. Therefore, our study aims to assess whether early-life exposure to pets and related biological agents, namely pet allergens and endotoxin, modifies the association between di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and asthma and wheeze in preschoolers to gain insight into interactions.

How the early life microbiome shapes immune programming in childhood asthma and allergies.

Despite advances in our understanding of their diagnosis and treatment, pediatric allergies impose substantial burdens on affected children, families, and healthcare systems. Further, the prevalence of allergic diseases has dramatically increased over the past half-century, leading to additional concerns and concerted efforts to identify the origins, potential predictors and preventions, and therapies of allergic diseases. Together with the increase in allergic diseases, changes in lifestyle and early-life environmental influences have corresponded with changes in colonization patterns of the infant gut microbiome.

Impact of postpartum hospital length of stay on infant gut microbiota: a comprehensive analysis of vaginal and caesarean birth.

Background: The primary concern with prolonged hospitalization following birth is the risk of acquiring hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) caused by opportunistic bacteria, which can alter the early establishment of gut microbiota.

Objective: To assess the association between postpartum hospital length of stay (LOS) and the composition of gut microbiota at 3 and 12 months of age according to birth mode.

Methods: In total, 1313 Canadian infants from the CHILD Cohort Study were involved in this study.

Reduce, reinforce, and replenish: safeguarding the early-life microbiota to reduce intergenerational health disparities.

Socioeconomic (SE) disparity and health inequity are closely intertwined and associated with cross-generational increases in the rates of multiple chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in North America and beyond. Coinciding with this social trend is an observed loss of biodiversity within the community of colonizing microbes that live in and on our bodies. Researchers have rightfully pointed to the microbiota as a key modifiable factor with the potential to ease existing health inequities.