If Gut Microbiome Is Perturbed by Antibiotics, Viral Disease May Inflict More Harm

Antibiotics won’t resolve a viral infection. And their misuse may contribute to antibiotic resistance. But, antibiotic resistance may not be the only problem. According to scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, antibiotics deployed against a viral infection may weaken the immune response to subsequent viral infections.Using a mouse model of West Nile virus, the scientists demonstrated that oral antibiotics not only alter bacterial abundance and community