PMID- 17530522
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070719
LR  - 20070528
IS  - 0277-0903 (Print)
IS  - 0277-0903 (Linking)
VI  - 44
IP  - 4
DP  - 2007 May
TI  - Season of birth and risk of atopic disease among children and adolescents.
PG  - 257-60
AB  - BACKGROUND: Season of birth (SOB) has been regarded as a risk factor for atopy. 
      The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between season of birth 
      (SOB) and later development of atopic disease in children and adolescents. 
      METHODS: A total of 1,007 randomly selected subjects, 7 to 17 years of age, who 
      were living in urban Copenhagen, Denmark were studied. All participants were 
      interviewed about respiratory symptoms and possible risk factors for atopic 
      disease. Skin test reactivity, serum total immunoglobulin E (IgE), and airway 
      responsiveness were measured using standard techniques. RESULTS: The overall risk 
      of atopy, as judged by skin test reactivity and serum total IgE, was the same 
      regardless of SOB. On the contrary, asthma was more common in subjects born in 
      the autumn compared with subjects born during the remaining part of the year 
      (12.4% vs. 5.6%), OR = 2.40, 95% CI (1.56-3.94), p < 0.001. This was observed 
      both for atopic asthma OR = 2.41, 95% CI (1.25-4.64), p = 0.007, non-atopic 
      asthma, OR = 2.35, 95% CI (1.14-4.83), p = 0.02, and house dust mite (HDM) 
      sensitive airway hyperresponsiveness, OR = 3.00, 95% CI (1.44-6.24), p = 0.002. 
      Rhinitis and pollen allergy were not significantly related to SOB. CONCLUSIONS: 
      Atopy itself is independent of season of birth, whereas asthma is more prevalent 
      among subjects born during the autumn. Regarding asthma, these results suggest 
      that the first months of life enclose a period of particular vulnerability 
      towards environmental risk factors, especially exposure to aeroallergens like 
      HDM.
FAU - Knudsen, Thomas Bollingtoft
AU  - Knudsen TB
AD  - Department of Respiratory Medicine, Bispebjerg Hospital, Denmark. thomas@uknet.dk
FAU - Thomsen, Simon Francis
AU  - Thomsen SF
FAU - Ulrik, Charlotte Suppli
AU  - Ulrik CS
FAU - Fenger, Mogens
AU  - Fenger M
FAU - Nepper-Christensen, Steen
AU  - Nepper-Christensen S
FAU - Backer, Vibeke
AU  - Backer V
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - England
TA  - J Asthma
JT  - The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of 
      Asthma
JID - 8106454
RN  - 37341-29-0 (Immunoglobulin E)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Asthma/epidemiology
MH  - Bronchial Provocation Tests
MH  - Child
MH  - Denmark/epidemiology
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Hypersensitivity, Immediate/*epidemiology
MH  - Immunoglobulin E/blood
MH  - Male
MH  - Rhinitis/epidemiology
MH  - Risk Factors
MH  - *Seasons
MH  - Skin Tests
EDAT- 2007/05/29 09:00
MHDA- 2007/07/20 09:00
CRDT- 2007/05/29 09:00
PHST- 2007/05/29 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/07/20 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/05/29 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 779066493 [pii]
AID - 10.1080/02770900701246832 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Asthma. 2007 May;44(4):257-60. doi: 10.1080/02770900701246832.