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Infant respiratory infections and later respiratory hospitalisation in childhood

Hannah C Moore1, Graham L Hall2, Nicholas de Klerk3

  • 1Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia hannah.moore@telethonkids.org.au.

The European Respiratory Journal
|August 22, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Infant acute respiratory infections (ARI) significantly increase the risk of later childhood respiratory problems and asthma. Reducing infant ARI can lead to substantial public health benefits.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are a major cause of illness in infants.
  • Early childhood respiratory morbidity poses a significant health burden.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify the association between infant ARI and subsequent respiratory morbidity up to early childhood.
  • To investigate the dose-response relationship and potential effect modification by gestational age.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized population-based longitudinal hospitalization data linked with perinatal, birth, and death records for 145,580 Western Australian children (1997-2002).
  • Employed Cox regression with sensitivity analyses to assess the risk of respiratory hospitalization after age 3 years, adjusting for covariates.
  • Examined dose-response effects and gestational age as a potential modifier.

Main Results:

  • Infant ARI was strongly associated with respiratory hospitalizations both before and after adjusting for risk factors (HR 3.5 and 3.0, respectively).
  • A dose-response relationship was observed: more frequent and longer infant ARI hospitalizations correlated with increased risk.
  • These findings persisted when later hospitalizations were specifically analyzed for asthma.

Conclusions:

  • Recurrent infant ARI substantially elevates the risk of respiratory morbidity and asthma requiring hospitalization in early childhood.
  • The increased relative risk is not influenced by gestational age.
  • Interventions aimed at reducing infant ARI incidence are likely to yield significant public health advantages.

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