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Health

One course of antibiotics can change your gut microbiome for years

Antibiotics can reduce diversity in the gut microbiome, raising the risk of infections that cause diarrhoea - and the effects may last years

By Carissa Wong

29 October 2024

Antibiotics can disrupt the gut microbiome

nobeastsofierce Science/Alamy Stock Photo

Taking a single course of antibiotics for less than two weeks can reduce the diversity of your gut microbiome for years. When the balance of microorganisms in the gut is disrupted, certain bacteria can dominate, leading to diarrhoea.

Researchers already knew that antibiotics can reduce the diversity of bacterial species in the gut for up to two years, but the longer-term consequences were less clear.

To fill this gap, Gabriel Baldanzi at…

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