Letters from the January 5, 2008, issue of Science News

Missing link

“Antibiotics in infancy tied to asthma” (SN: 7/7/07, p. 14) reported a correlation but no confident explanation for the relationship between receiving antibiotics and later developing asthma. “Ulcer bug may prevent asthma” (SN: 10/27/07, p. 270), which reports that children with Helicobacter pylori in their stomachs are less likely to get asthma, seems to offer a convincing answer.