Fig. 1. Dot and Whisker plots of adjusted relative risk estimates and 95% confidence intervals from GEE analysis of 6-week-old infant stool 16S V4–V5 rRNA sequencing alpha diversity and infections and symptoms of infection over the first year of life.

Overall GEE adjusted for maternal BMI, delivery type, sex, breast feeding at six weeks, perinatal antibiotic use, and gestational age. GEE stratified by delivery mode (vaginal and cesarean) adjusted for maternal BMI, sex, breast feeding at six weeks, perinatal antibiotic use, and gestational age. Red, blue, turquoise, pink, and green points represent relative risk for all infections and symptoms, upper RTI, lower RTI, wheezing, and diarrhea outcomes respectively. Vertical lines above and below points represent upper and lower confidence bands. Relative risk estimates represent an increased risk of having an additional infection or symptom of infection or an increased risk of experiencing wheezing or diarrhea with each doubling of the inverse Simpson index. Upper RTI, lower RTI, and wheezing outcomes are those diagnosed by a physician for which a medication was prescribed. Diarrhea outcomes are those diagnosed by a physician for whom no medication was prescribed. Numbers above upper confidence bands indicate the total number of outcomes, which may be greater than N due to repeated measures. Sample sizes were N = 464 for overall and N = 125 for cesarean delivery for diarrhea analyses due to missing data. GEE generalized estimating equation, N sample size, RR relative risk, RTI respiratory tract infection.