Neonates, antibiotics and the microbiome

As babies leave their mothers' wombs, they are colonized by commensal bacteria. A new study shows that these microbes in a newborn's gut can promote an increase in circulating neutrophils that can guard the body from infections. Altering a neonate's gut microbiota with perinatal antibiotic treatment can impair neutrophils, leaving the newborn vulnerable to attack by harmful bacteria (pages 524-530).
Globally, around 4 million newborn babies die yearly due to sepsis (1). Prolonged use of antibiotics is currently under clinical practice in the interest of preventing early-onset sepsis in newborns [...]