The Janus face of Antibiotics: Life Savers and Microbiota Disruptors

Drug

Pulmonology Pediatrics Otorhinolaryngology Gastroenterology

From 18 to 24 November, the WHO will be running World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW). WAAW reminds us that although antibiotics were one of the major therapeutic advances of the 20th century, they can also have an adverse impact on the various microbiota and cause antibiotic resistance.¹

Photo : The Janus face of Antibiotics: Life Savers and Microbiota Disruptors

About this article

Created 20 November 2020

Updated 23 July 2024

From the antibiotic era to the microbiota era

As an expert on microbiota, the Biocodex Microbiota Institute will participate in this event by dedicating a special edition to the impact of antibiotics on the body’s microbiota:

- Gut microbiota: up to 35% of patients using antibiotics suffer from diarrhea^2,3,4

- Urogenital microbiota: 10% to 30% of women develop vulvovaginal candidiasis following treatment with antibiotics⁵

- Skin microbiota: 60% of patients treated for acne show macrolide-resistant strains of Cutibacterium acnes

- ENT microbiota: antibiotics administered to treat upper respiratory tract infections increase the incidence of acute otitis media by a factor 2.6

- Lung microbiota: broad-spectrum antibiotics used to treat pulmonary infections play a central role in the emergence of antibiotic resistance