Certain antibiotics leave gut microbes altered for years, Swedish study finds
A Swedish study of 14,979 adults linked certain oral antibiotics—most notably clindamycin, fluoroquinolones, and flucloxacillin—to lasting reductions in gut microbiome diversity and shifts in species abundance, persisting four to eight years after use. Diversity tends to recover most quickly within two years, but lingering effects can persist longer, and the health implications remain uncertain and may vary by country and prescribing patterns.
