The use of antibiotics disrupts the ecology of the microbiome in three important ways. First, antibiotic therapy can lead to secondary infection, as in antibiotic-associated diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile infection. A second effect is an increase in levels of antibiotic resistance in the regrowth...

Easily draw blood samples from patients with needlephobia, without ever handling a needle or touching a collection tube.

Probiotics can both restore and establish the microbiome after disruption by antibiotics. When the microbiome is compromised by antibiotic therapy, resulting in conditions such as antibiotic-associated diarrhea, probiotics can rebalance the intestinal microflora and restore a healthy, diverse microbiome....