限制孕婦與新生兒抗生素的使用

Exposure to antibiotics in the womb could potentially weaken babies’ immune systems and increase the risk of catching diseases like pneumonia later in life, new research suggests.

一項新研究表明，存留在子宮內的抗生素會悄然弱化嬰兒的免疫系統(tǒng)，并增加其以后生活中肺炎等疾病的發(fā)病率。

Tests on pregnant mice showed the growth of immune cells that protect against lung disease was interrupted in babies when their mothers were given common antibiotics before birth.

用懷孕的老鼠做實驗發(fā)現(xiàn)，當母親在孩子出生前服用常見抗生素時，會阻礙嬰兒體內免受肺部疾病的免疫細胞的生長。

Previous research on humans has indicated that antibiotics can affect the development of a baby’s immune system by wiping out both good and bad bacteria in the gut.

先前相關研究表明，抗生素可通過消滅腸道中所有細菌來影響嬰兒免疫系統(tǒng)的發(fā)展。

“We wanted to establish how this happens and find out if there is a mechanism for us to prevent it from happening,” lead researcher Hitesh Deshmukh, from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre, told The Independent.

“我們想探究這是如何發(fā)生的，并找到途徑阻止它。”辛辛那提兒童醫(yī)院的首席研究員語德斯穆克告訴《獨立報》說。

“We took pregnant mice and gave them two or three of the most commonly used antibiotics in the neonatal period, four to five days before birth. Humans are usually only given antibiotics 48 hours, or maybe 72 hours before birth, so it’s a close approximation.

“在分娩前的四到五天，我們給懷孕的老鼠服用了兩到三種最常用的抗生素。人們經(jīng)常在嬰兒出生之前48或者72小時服用抗生素，所以這是個近似值。”

“We showed that if you give antibiotics, you interrupt the development of lymphoid cells in the lungs, which are the ones that mediate protection against infections, from pneumonia, due to viruses or fungi,” said Dr Deshmukh.

“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果服用了抗生素，它會阻礙肺中淋巴細胞的生長，而那正是使之免受病毒和真菌感染而導致肺炎等傳染病侵擾的秘方。”

Antibiotics are routinely given to women who give birth through caesarian section to prevent infection, and in some cases during vaginal labour to protect against a potentially deadly bacteria called Group B Streptoccoccus (GBS).

通常來說，剖腹產(chǎn)的女性會使用抗生素來預防感染，在某些情況下我們把通過陰道分娩來免受潛在的致命病菌叫做GBS.

The human immune system takes around a year to develop, meaning weaknesses introduced while it is being built could be long-lasting and even permanent, warned Dr Seshmukh.

德希穆克博士警告，人類免疫系統(tǒng)會經(jīng)歷一年左右的發(fā)展期，這過程中出現(xiàn)的缺陷所產(chǎn)生的影響可能是長期甚至永久的。

The scientists behind the research, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, now plan to undertake a clinical study to evaluate the benefits of limiting antibiotic use among pregnant women and newborns.

參與研究的科學家在《科學轉化醫(yī)學》雜志上發(fā)表了文章，現(xiàn)在正計劃進行臨床研究，來評估限制孕婦與新生兒抗生素使用所能帶來的益處。

In the UK, doctors’ guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) say women undergoing Caesarean section should be offered prophylactic antibiotics “before skin incision”.

在英國，國家健康和保健研究所的醫(yī)生指南里要求，女性在接受剖腹產(chǎn)時應當在“皮膚被切開之前”使用預防性抗生素。

The 2012 guidance adds: “Inform them that ... no effect on the baby has been demonstrated.” Many newborn babies in neonatal intensive care units also receive antibiotics. The treatments protect against GBS, the leading cause of deadly infections in newborns.

2012年版本的指南中新增：“我們申明...對嬰兒沒有影響這一觀點被證實。”許多在重癥監(jiān)護室的新生兒也接受了抗生素。這種治療使之免受GBS這種致命抗生素的威脅。

“They also provide further proof if proof is needed that antibiotics are potent medicines that should only be used for significant human bacterial infections and that the current policy of reducing antibiotic prescribing should be accelerated.”

如果需要的話，他們會進一步提供抗生素是一種只能用于重大成人病菌感染的強有力藥物的證據(jù)，當前有關減少抗生素使用的現(xiàn)行政策也應當進一步收緊。