Fishman E, Crawford G, DeVries A, et al. - In this retrospective cohort analysis involving a sample of the pediatric US Medicaid population, researchers assessed the risk of developing asthma in relation to antibiotic fills in the first 2 years of life in these individuals. Participants included children with continuous medical and pharmacy coverage from birth to 2.5 years of age. Those who received a diagnosis of asthma prior to 2.5 years of age were removed from the study. Of 79,582 children included, antibiotic prescriptions filled were 0, 1-2, or ≥ 3 for 29,931 (37.6%), 27,403 (34.4%), and 22,248 (28.0%) children, respectively. A follow-up of 89,545 person-years was performed, during which time 2,381 new cases of asthma were documented. In this Medicaid population, an increased risk of asthma diagnosis from 2.5 to 5 years of age was observed in relation to antibiotic prescriptions filled in the first 2 years of life.