For the study, Finlay and colleagues looked for four types of bacteria in stool samples form more than 300 babies at 3 months and one year old of age. The researchers found that 22 children with low levels of these bacteria at age 3 months also had low levels at age 1 year.These 22 children are at the highest risk of developing asthma, and eight have been diagnosed with the respiratory disease so far. In the first 100 days of life, gut makeup influences the immune response that causes or protects kids from asthma
Testing for these bacteria in infants might help identify children who have a high risk of developing asthma.