Research
Mixed
Antibiotic treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) can improve nutritional recovery and reduce mortality, likely by altering the microbiome to improve nutrient extraction, although the mechanism is not fully understood.
For children with severe acute malnutrition, antibiotic treatment (amoxicillin or cefdinir) for one week is a standard, life-saving part of care that improves recovery. This is distinct from general antibiotic use and targets the specific dysbiotic state of malnutrition.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Intriguingly, a week-long course of either amoxicillin or cefdinir has been found to improve nutritional recovery and reduce mortality associated with severe acute malnutrition [50]. The combination of antibiotics and nutritional therapy has become standard of care in outpatient management of severe acute malnutrition [51].
Why this rating
Cites clinical studies showing benefit, but notes the mechanism is not fully characterized.
Source
The effects of antibiotics on the microbiome throughout development and alternative approaches for therapeutic modulation
Amy Langdon et al. · Genome Medicine · 2016
DOI 10.1186/s13073-016-0294-z
narrative_reviewCited 902×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Antibiotic exposure during early development (prenatal, perinatal, or early childhood) disrupts microbiome succession, leading to long-term health consequences including increased susceptibility to infection, immunological disorders (asthma, type 1 diabetes), and metabolic shifts toward obesity or malnutrition.Good
- Broad-spectrum antibiotic use in developed countries contributes to reduced microbiome diversity compared to hunter-gatherer societies, which is associated with increased susceptibility to infection and metabolic disorders.Good
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