Research

Mixed

Antibiotic treatment causes significant, sometimes long-lasting, disruption to gut microbiota diversity and composition, potentially leading to conditions like antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) and increased risk of allergies in early life.

Antibiotics significantly disrupt your gut bacteria, sometimes causing long-term changes or loss of specific strains. This can lead to diarrhea or increased allergy risk, especially in children. If you must take antibiotics, be aware of these risks. Post-treatment, focus on a high-fiber diet to help restore diversity, and consult your doctor about potential probiotic support.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Antibiotic treatment has been shown to dramatically disturb the composition of the faecal microbiota in humans... Antibiotic therapy can disturb the natural microbiota in the GIT, which may result in the pathological overgrowth of C. difficile... short-term parenteral antibiotic treatment of neonates causes significant alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota... Foliaki et al. found an association between antibiotic use in the first year of life and symptoms of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema in children aged 6 and 7 years.
Susan Power et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2013

Why this rating

Strong evidence from multiple studies showing diversity loss and clinical outcomes (AAD, allergies).

Source

Intestinal microbiota, diet and health

Susan Power et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2013

DOI 10.1017/s0007114513002560

narrative_reviewCited 467×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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