Too Many Antibiotics May Affect Vaccine Response Among Infants, Toddlers

By Jonathan Springston, Editor, Relias Media

Researchers observed lower vaccine antibody levels in pediatric patients who had been prescribed antibiotics early in life.

Investigators examined data on children age 6 months to 24 months — specifically, vaccine antibody levels for 342 children who had been prescribed antibiotics vs. 218 who had not. Researchers considered antibody levels relative to diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP), inactivated polio (IPV), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and pneumococcal conjugate (PCV) vaccines.

After each antibiotic course received, antibody levels for DTaP, Hib, and IPV were lower by 5.8%, 6.8%, and 11.3%, respectively. For PCV, antibodies were 10.4% lower for un-boosted vaccinations, and the antibodies were 12.2% to 21.3% lower after boosters. In addition to race and ethnicity, the authors noted daycare attendance factored into antibiotic prescription rates — 42.7% of children who received antibiotics were in daycare vs. 20.6% who did not receive antibiotics.

The authors urged caution about overprescribing antibiotics for infants and toddlers to prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, although they concluded additional research that includes larger cohorts and more frequent antibody testing is needed. A commenter on the online version of the paper suggested children with weaker immune systems may have been the patients who received more antibiotics. Perhaps this will be a consideration in future investigations.

For more on this and related subjects, be sure to read the latest issues of Hospital Infection Control & Prevention, Infectious Disease Alert, and Pediatric Emergency Medicine Reports.