Allergic disease and atopic sensitization in children in relation to measles vaccination and measles infection

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Published on: August 7, 2017

Helen Rosenlund1, Anna Bergström, Johan S Alm

  • 1Karolinska Institutet, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Box 210, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. helen.rosenlund@ki.se

Pediatrics
|March 4, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Measles infection appears to protect children against developing allergic diseases. While measles vaccination showed a similar trend, only natural infection demonstrated a significant protective effect against allergies.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
  • Infectious Disease Epidemiology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Allergic diseases and atopic sensitization are significant global health concerns.
  • The role of childhood infections, including measles, in modulating allergic disease development is debated.
  • Anthroposophic lifestyles, which may involve delayed or avoided immunizations, provide a unique context for studying these associations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between measles infection and vaccination and the subsequent development of allergic disease and atopic sensitization in children.
  • To explore potential protective effects of measles infection against allergic conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional, multicenter study involving 14,893 children aged 5-13 years across 5 European countries.
  • Data collected via parental questionnaires on lifestyle, exposure, symptoms, and diagnoses.
  • Immunoglobulin E (IgE) analyses performed on blood samples from a subset of children (4049).

Main Results:

  • Atopic sensitization was inversely associated with prior measles infection in the overall cohort.
  • Excluding children with early-onset eczema or wheezing, measles infection showed inverse associations with any allergic symptom and physician-diagnosed allergy.
  • No significant association was found between measles vaccination and allergic disease development.

Conclusions:

  • Measles infection may confer a protective effect against the development of allergic diseases in children.
  • Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanisms behind this potential protective association.
Abstract

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