Autism Therapy: vancomycin

Vancomycin therapy may help autism by killing clostridia bacteria.

In this review article, the author looks at published research that supports the idea that autism may be caused by a bacterial (clostridia) infection of the gut. The author states that in most cases autism begins after the child receives antibiotics, thus making it possible for bad bacteria to grow up in the gut. The author believes that the widespread use of antibiotics may be the cause of the increase in autism. In many cases, autism improves when the child is given the drug vancomycin, which kills any bad bacteria in the gut. The bad bacteria have spores, however, and the spores survive treatment with vancomycin and are able to cause a relapse of autism.