Baby antibiotics 'link to asthma'

Further evidence that antibiotics should be used with care.

A Canadian study of 12,082 children suggests those treated with
antibiotics under the age of one are twice as likely to develop
asthma in childhood.

And researchers writing in US journal Chest found additional courses
of antibiotics in the first year of life increased asthma risk still
further.

Earlier studies suggested the drugs may affect the way the immune
system works.

Experts believe they kill off beneficial bacteria in the intestine
and that this may lead to changes in the way the body deals with
disease.