Figure 2. Host and environmental factors that influence the respiratory microbiota.
During early life, microbial communities in the respiratory tract are highly dynamic and are driven by multiple factors, including mode of birth, feeding type, crowding conditions and antibiotic treatment. Together, these host and environmental factors can change the composition of the microbiota towards a stable community at equilibrium that is resistant to pathogen overgrowth, or, conversely, an unstable community develops that is predisposed to infection and inflammation.