限制孕妇与新生儿抗生素的使用
一项新研究表明，存留在子宫内的抗生素会悄然弱化婴儿的免疫系统，并增加其以后生活中肺炎等疾病的发病率。
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.
用怀孕的老鼠做实验发现，当母亲在孩子出生前服用常见抗生素时，会阻碍婴儿体内免受肺部疾病的免疫细胞的生长。
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.
先前相关研究表明，抗生素可通过消灭肠道中所有细菌来影响婴儿免疫系统的发展。
“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.
“我们想探究这是如何发生的，并找到途径阻止它。”辛辛那提儿童医院的首席研究员语德斯穆克告诉《独立报》说。
“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，我们给怀孕的老鼠服用了两到三种最常用的抗生素。人们经常在婴儿出生之前48或者72小时服用抗生素，所以这是个近似值。”
“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.
“我们发现，如果服用了抗生素，它会阻碍肺中淋巴细胞的生长，而那正是使之免受病毒和真菌感染而导致肺炎等传染病侵扰的秘方。”
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).
通常来说，剖腹产的女性会使用抗生素来预防感染，在某些情况下我们把通过阴道分娩来免受潜在的致命病菌叫做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，人类免疫系统会经历一年左右的发展期，这过程中出现的缺陷所产生的影响可能是长期甚至永久的。
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.
参与研究的科学家在《科学转化医学》杂志上发表了文章，现在正计划进行临床研究，来评估限制孕妇与新生儿抗生素使用所能带来的益处。
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”.
在英国，国家健康和保健研究所的医生指南里要求，女性在接受剖腹产时应当在“皮肤被切开之前”使用预防性抗生素。
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：“我们申明...对婴儿没有影响这一观点被证实。”许多在重症监护室的新生儿也接受了抗生素。这种治疗使之免受GBS这种致命抗生素的威胁。
“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.”
如果需要的话，他们会进一步提供抗生素是一种只能用于重大成人病菌感染的强有力药物的证据，当前有关减少抗生素使用的现行政策也应当进一步收紧。
