EVALUATION OF THE ROLE OF ANTIBIOTIC USE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COW'S MILK PROTEIN ALLERGY WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE AMONG PATIENTS TREATED IN THE NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

It has been reported that the incidence of cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) has increased in recent years, especially among infants in the first year of life. It is thought that the use of antibiotics may trigger the development of CMPA by causing intestinal dysbiosis and altering immune response, and thus, it may be a factor responsible for the supposed increase. The relationship between antibiotic use and the development of CMPA has been evaluated in very few studies in the literature. Our aim is to evaluate whether CMPA development is associated with antibiotic use during pregnancy or neonatal period. The development of CMPA within the first year of life among infants hospitalized and followed up in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Karabuk University Faculty of Medicine, Training and Research Hospital, between January 1, 2017 and October 30, 2020, was evaluated. During the study period, 1120 babies were followed up in our NICU. When the data of 975 babies who met the inclusion criteria were evaluated, it was found that the use of antenatal and conclusion postnatal antibiotics did not increase the development of CMPA. The data of our study contradicts the two study of which previously associated maternal and infant antibiotic use with the development of CMPA.This contradiction suggests that the aetiology of CMPA is multifactorial and more studies are needed to elucidate the antibiotic-CMPA relationship.