Persistent metagenomic signatures of early-life hospitalization and antibiotic treatment in the infant gut microbiota and resistome

The authors find a persistently enriched gastrointestinal antibiotic resistome, prolonged carriage of multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and distinct antibiotic-driven patterns of microbiota and resistome assembly in extremely preterm infants that received early-life antibiotics. The collateral damage of early-life antibiotic treatment and hospitalization in preterm infants is long lasting. They urge the development of strategies to reduce these consequences in highly vulnerable neonatal populations.