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Respiratory illnesses in early life and asthma and atopy in childhood

Clare D Ramsey1, Diane R Gold, Augusto A Litonjua

  • 1Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
|January 9, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Early life respiratory infections influence childhood asthma and atopy risk. Specific infections like bronchiolitis increase asthma risk, while croup and ear infections may decrease atopy risk.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
  • Respiratory Medicine
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • The link between early childhood respiratory illnesses and later development of asthma and atopy remains unclear.
  • Understanding this relationship is crucial for early intervention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between respiratory infections in the first year of life and the incidence of atopic diseases at school age.
  • To explore how different types of early respiratory illnesses impact the risk of asthma, atopy, and allergic rhinitis.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective birth cohort study involving 440 children with a parental history of atopy.
  • Utilized logistic regression and proportional hazards models to analyze the relationship between early respiratory illnesses and outcomes at school age.

Main Results:

  • Physician-diagnosed croup and multiple ear infections in infancy were inversely associated with atopy at school age.
  • Bronchiolitis in the first year of life was significantly linked to an increased risk of asthma at age 7.
  • Recurrent nasal catarrh in infancy was associated with a higher likelihood of allergic rhinitis at age 7.

Conclusions:

  • The impact of early-life respiratory infections on asthma and atopy is complex and depends on the specific pathogen and the resulting immune response.
  • Certain respiratory illnesses during infancy can modify the risk of developing atopy and asthma later in childhood.
Abstract

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