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Review
. 2022 Jun 30;11(1):76.
doi: 10.1186/s40249-022-00999-5.

The impact of mass drug administration of antibiotics on the gut microbiota of target populations

Ethan K Gough  1
Affiliations
Review

The impact of mass drug administration of antibiotics on the gut microbiota of target populations

Ethan K Gough. Infect Dis Poverty. .

Abstract

Antibiotics have become a mainstay of healthcare in the past century due to their activity against pathogens. This manuscript reviews the impact of antibiotic use on the intestinal microbiota in the context of mass drug administration (MDA). The importance of the gut microbiota to human metabolism and physiology is now well established, and antibiotic exposure may impact host health via collateral effects on the microbiota and its functions. To gain further insight into how gut microbiota respond to antibiotic perturbation and the implications for public health, factors that influence the impact of antibiotic exposure on the microbiota, potential health outcomes of antibiotic-induced microbiota alterations, and strategies that have the potential to ameliorate these wider antibiotic-associated microbiota perturbations are also reviewed.

Keywords: Antibiotics; Mass drug administration; Microbiome; Microbiota.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Antibiotic impacts on human gut microbiota and associated health impacts. The horizontal, black arrow represents the time axis along which key life events associated with gut microbiome development occur. Horizontal, gray, solid lines represent antibiotic exposure periods. Vertical, gray dashed lines link exposure periods to associated health outcomes. The position and length of each box relative to the time axis represents the timing and duration of microbiome changes and health effects
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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