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The most interesting things about antibiotics for 2015
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Researchers have been working fruitfully all last year, and today we would like to highlight the most interesting work of scientists in 2015, and we will start with antibiotics.
It has long been known that antibiotics cause an imbalance in intestinal microflora, which causes the development of certain diseases. But experts say that these drugs are most dangerous in childhood, since such treatment can cause the development of a number of diseases after the child grows up. Specialists emphasized that this study will help not only identify all the dangers of using such therapy, but also develop recommendations for the appropriateness of prescribing such drugs.
Another research group has developed a special device that helps quickly identify antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Today, identifying bacterial resistance requires a fairly lengthy laboratory study or expensive, bulky equipment. The new development allows the analysis to be done in just a few hours, and all the necessary materials and equipment fit easily on a regular table.
In Finland, a group of specialists stated that in case of uncomplicated appendicitis, it is enough to simply prescribe antibiotics, which will help even without surgical treatment.
Another group of researchers concluded that antibacterial therapy in early childhood leads to obesity, bone growth, and disruption of normal intestinal microflora in the future. Laboratory experiments on mice showed that antibiotics change the composition of intestinal microflora, make bones larger and increase weight (rodents received the same dosage of antibacterial drugs as children from birth to 2 years of age). In addition to changing the balance of bacteria, antibiotics changed the number of genes responsible for certain metabolic processes. It was also found that the microbiome of rodents receiving antibiotics adapted worse to changes in the external environment.
Another group of scientists has proven that taking antibiotics at an early age increases the likelihood of developing juvenile arthritis. Scientists note that antibiotics are not a direct cause of the pathology, but serve as a marker. Many children are prescribed such treatment, but only one in a thousand develops arthritis, scientists are sure that antibiotics are one of the factors causing the pathological process.
In Denmark, a group of specialists found that antibacterial drugs increase the risk of developing type II diabetes.
Another study has refuted the idea that macrolide antibiotics interfere with fetal development, but scientists warn that these drugs have not yet been sufficiently studied and in any case, they should be prescribed and taken with caution.
Experts have also found that one course of antibiotics disrupts the composition of intestinal microflora for a long period of time, and this, in turn, causes resistance to antibiotics.
The latest generation of antibacterial drugs, called phagemids, penetrate pathogenic microorganisms and begin to secrete deadly toxins. The description of the scientific work indicated how they modeled particles of viruses that destroy bacteria (bacteriophages). Specialists developed particles that effectively destroy a certain type of bacteria, in this case they worked with E. coli, but the next step will be the development of a drug to combat cholera vibrio, clostridia, etc.
Finally, in one study, researchers found that including antibiotics in postoperative therapy is ineffective. The researchers found that patients who received antibiotics spent one day longer in the hospital than those who did not receive antibiotics.