Proton Pump Inhibitors and Infant Pneumonia/Other Lower Respiratory Tract Infections: National Nested Case-control...

The possible association between the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) or another lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) remains uncertain. We conducted a nested case-control study using routinely collected national health and drug dispensing data in New Zealand to examine the risk of CAP or another LRTI resulting in hospitalization or death in infants dispensed a PPI.

The cohort included 21,991 patients without a history of CAP or another LRTI who were born between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2012 and were dispensed omeprazole, lansoprazole, or pantoprazole (the PPIs available in New Zealand during the study period) on at least one occasion during the first year of life. Cases had a first diagnosis after cohort entry (first PPI dispensing) of CAP (n = 65) validated by hospital discharge letter or death record, and chest radiography; or LRTI (including CAP) (n = 566) validated by hospital discharge letter or death record, with or without chest radiography. Up to 10 controls, matched by sex and date of birth, were randomly selected for each case. We conducted complete case analyses for the fully adjusted models.

In the adjusted analysis based on CAP cases and their controls, the matched odds ratio for current versus past use of PPIs was 0.88 (95% confidence interval 0.36-2.16). For all LRTI cases and their controls, the matched odds ratio was 1.13 (0.87-1.48).

In otherwise healthy community-dwelling infants, current use of a PPI does not appear to increase the risk of CAP or other LRTIs.