Children with eczema have a more diverse set of bacteria in their guts than non affected children, finds a new study in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Microbiology. The types of bacteria present were also more typical of adult gut microbes than for toddlers without eczema.
Eczema is a chronic inflammation of the epidermis. The gut bacteria of children with or without eczema was examined when they were six and 18 months old. At six months all the infants had the same types of bacteria but by 18 months old the children with eczema had more of a type of bacteria normally associated with adults (Clostridium clusters IV and XIVa) while the healthy children had a greater amount of Bacteroidetes.
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