ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Airway infections in infancy and the presence of allergy and asthma in school age children

F Njå¹, W Nystad², Ø Hetlevik³, K C Lødrup Carlsen⁴, K-H Carlsen⁵

¹ Geilomo Children’s Hospital for Asthma and Allergy, Geilo and Sandvika, Norway
² Section of Epidemiology, Department of Population Health Sciences, National Institute of Public Health, Oslo
³ Community GP, Odda
⁴ Department of Paediatrics, Section of Allergology and Pulmonology, Woman Child Clinic, Ullevål University Hospital, Oslo
⁵ Voksentoppen Research Institute and Children’s National Hospital of Asthma, Allergy and Chronic Lung Diseases, University of Oslo, Norway

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr F Njå, Malmskrivervn. 27, 1337 Sandvika, Norway;
fnja{at}online.no

Aim: To investigate the association between a history of otitis media and respiratory tract infections in infancy and allergic sensitisation and asthma in school age children of atopic and non-atopic parents.

Methods: Based on a survey of 4585 schoolchildren, three groups of children aged 6–16 years were selected, of whom 502 were eligible with complete data: (1) diagnosed asthma (n = 166); (2) wheeze within past 12 months (n = 155); and (3) no asthma/no wheeze (n = 181). This study population was further analyzed by subgroups of children with or without parental atopy. Main outcome measures were allergic sensitisation verified by skin prick test and asthma.

Results: Children of atopic parents had a reduced risk of developing allergic sensitisation in school age if they had a combined history of both otitis media and lower respiratory tract infections during infancy (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.13, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.50) or a history of otitis media (aOR 0.31, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.83). A history of lower respiratory tract infections in infancy increased the risk of asthma in children of non-atopic parents (aOR 4.21, 95% CI 1.68 to 10.57).

Conclusion: In the present study population, a history of otitis media in infancy seems to be negatively associated with allergic sensitisation in school age children of atopic parents, whereas a history of lower respiratory tract infections was positively associated with asthma in children of non-atopic parents.

Keywords: respiratory tract infection; allergy; asthma

Abbreviations: aOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; cOR, crude odds ratio; OM, otitis media; RTI, respiratory tract infection; LRTI, lower respiratory tract infection; RRTI, recurrent respiratory tract infection; SPT, skin prick test

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