The role of immunization in the development of atopic disorders is still under debate. One reason might be, that because of high vaccination coverage in most countries only few and selected children are not immunized, leading to unstable and often biased effect estimates. In Germany, the situation was different between 1985 and 1991: bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and pertussis vaccination were not officially recommended leading to high numbers of non-vaccinated children in the 1990s. We report on a cross-sectional study with 1673 participants among 5- to 7-year-old preschool children conducted in 1996. We found no hint that BCG vaccination or whole-cell pertussis (WCP) vaccination may lead to higher prevalences of asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema or allergic sensitization at preschool age. None of the associations was significantly positive. WCP vaccination may be protective against asthma OR 0.55 (95% CI: 0.31-0.98) and against symptoms of eczema in boys.

Early BCG and pertussis vaccination and atopic diseases in 5- to 7-year-old preschool children from Augsburg, Germany: results from the MIRIAM study.

The association between pertussis vaccination and allergies as seen in epidemiological studies is unclear. Studies in the U.S. and in New Zealand, where vaccination coverage was nearly complete, found fewer allergies in the very small group of non-vaccinated children [1,2]. Two studies in Great Britain found more asthma in the vaccinated than in the not vaccinated group [3,4]. Two cohort studies found no association with wheezing, asthma or sensitisation in children up to 3 years [5, 6]. Contrary to that the evidence concerning pertussis itself is less conflicting. Studies dealing with the impact of early childhood respiratory infections on allergy in later life all found more asthma and allergies in children having had pertussis [7, 8, 9, 10]. From 1974 to 1991 pertussis vaccination was not recommended in West Germany because of alarming reports on the side effects of the vaccine. Therefore the group of children receiving a diphteria and tetanus vaccination (DT) but no diphteria, pertussis and tetanus vaccination (DPT) is fairly big and we are able to compare these both groups with the group of children receiving neither DT nor DPT (NO) vaccination. If pertussis vaccination causes allergies then the prevalence of allergies should be highest in the DPT vaccinated group. Children in the DT or NO group should have comparable prevalences. This was investigated. We use data from our study on school beginners in West Germany where vaccinations, diagnoses of pertussis, allergies and symptoms of allergies have been recorded, atopic eczema has been diagnosed and sensitisation has been measured.

Pertussis Vaccination Is Not Associated with a Higher Prevalence of Allergies in Six-Year-Old Children from West Germany

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Pertussis Vaccination Is Not Associated with a Higher Prevalence of Allergies in Six-Year-Old Children from West Germany