Study Links Childhood Antibiotic Use to Higher Odds of IBS by Age 24

A new Swedish study presented at the United European Gastroenterology conference on found that children and adolescents who received antibiotics had 1.5-times-higher odds of developing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by age 24 than those who had not.

The analysis of 2,853 participants found that 10% developed IBS, with odds increasing alongside the number of antibiotic prescriptions, reaching 1.7 times higher among those with six or more prescriptions. Tetracyclines and cephalosporins were also associated with higher odds.

Researchers emphasize that further studies are needed to determine whether antibiotic exposure contributes to IBS risk. Read the article from CIDRAP here.