Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Vaccines

Antibiotics, microbiota and the calibration of infant vaccine responses

Antibiotic exposure in early life disrupts the infant microbiome, dampens vaccine responses and alters immune programming. Restoring Bifidobacterium may offer a microbiota-targeted strategy to enhance vaccine efficacy in vulnerable populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Early-life antibiotic exposure disrupts the infant microbiome and impairs vaccine responses.

References

  1. de Jong, S. E., Olin, A. & Pulendran, B. Cell Host Microbe 28, 169–179 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Hagan, T. et al. Cell 178, 1313–1328.e13 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Oh, J. Z. et al. Immunity 41, 478–492 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Ryan, F. J. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08796-4 (2025).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Lynn, M. A. et al. Cell Host Microbe 23, 653–660.e5 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Feng, Y. et al. Cell Host Microbe https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.03.015 (2025).

  7. Harris, V. C. et al. Cell Host Microbe 24, 197–207.e4 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Chapman, T. J., Pham, M., Bajorski, P. & Pichichero, M. E. Pediatrics 149, e2021052061 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Shaffer, M. et al. mSystems 8, e0066123 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Pichichero, M. E., Xu, L., Gonzalez, E., Pham, M. & Kaur, R. J. Infect. Dis. 229, 1856–1865 (2024).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Pulendran, B., Li, S. & Nakaya, H. I. Immunity 33, 516–529 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bali Pulendran.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Feng, Y., Pulendran, B. Antibiotics, microbiota and the calibration of infant vaccine responses. Nat Immunol 26, 810–811 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-025-02169-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-025-02169-9

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Microbiology

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Microbiology newsletter — what matters in microbiology research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Microbiology