ArticleThe British journal of dermatology2024
In utero or early-in-life exposure to antibiotics and the risk of childhood atopic dermatitis, a population-based cohort study.
Article in The British journal of dermatology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prenatal maternal antibiotic use increases the risk of childhood eczema: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2026Pooled it
- Association between early-life antibiotic exposure and gut microbiome alterations linked to allergic diseases in children: a systematic review.European journal of medical research · 2025Pooled it
- Understanding Infantile Atopic Dermatitis: A Review of Environmental, Familial, Genetic and Microbial Influences.Current allergy and asthma reports · 2026Review
- Emollients to Prevent Pediatric Eczema: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA dermatology · 2025Article
- Association of Prenatal and Intrapartum Antibiotic Use with Risk of Childhood Atopic Dermatitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Association between antibiotic exposure and childhood atopic dermatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- A review of pharmaceutical and personal care products and atopic dermatitis based on epidemiological and basic research findings.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
- Gut microbiota modulation: a key determinant of atopic dermatitis susceptibility in children.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Atopic dermatitis and food allergy: More than sensitization.Mucosal immunology · 2024Review
- Review
- Adding Fuel to the Fire? The Skin Microbiome in Atopic Dermatitis.The Journal of investigative dermatology · 2024Review
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAtopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory disease of the skin that begins early in life and can be lifelong. The purpose of our study was to evaluate whether fetal exposure and/or early-life exposure of a child to antibiotics increases the risk of early-onset AD.
objectivesWe hypothesize that antibiotic exposure in utero or early in life (e.g. first 90 days) increases the likelihood that children develop AD.
methodsUtilizing a large, prospectively collected electronic medical records database, we studied the association of antibiotic exposure received in utero or very early in life and the relative risk of onset of AD in a population-based cohort study. Associations were estimated using proportional hazards models as hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
resultsThe risk of AD in childhood was increased after in utero or early-life antibiotic exposure. For any in utero antibiotic exposure the HR (CI) was 1.38 (1.36-1.39). However, penicillin demonstrated the strongest association with AD for both in utero exposure [1.43 (1.41-1.44)] and for childhood exposure [1.81 (1.79-1.82)]. HRs were higher in children born to mothers without AD than in those with AD pointing to effect modification by maternal AD status.
conclusionsChildren born to mothers exposed to antibiotics while in utero had, depending on the mother's history of AD, approximately a 20-40% increased risk of developing AD. Depending on the antibiotic, children who received antibiotics early in life had a 40-80% increased risk of developing AD. Our study supports and refines the association between incident AD and antibiotic administration. It also adds population-based support to therapeutic attempts to treat AD by modifying the skin microbiome.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.