Daycare attendance before the age of two protects against atopy in preschool age children

Haby, Michelle M.; Marks, Guy B.; Peat, Jennifer K.; Leeder, Stephen

doi:10.1002/1099-0496(200011)30:5<377::aid-ppul3>3.0.co;2-3

Cited by 41 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In population based studies, various markers of infection burden, such as daycare attendance in infancy [42–46], infection, and the number of older siblings [44, 46–49], have been shown to be inversely associated with atopy-related disorders. The total burden of recurrent RT infections during the early years of life have also been shown to be negatively associated with atopy at pre-school [45] and at school age, in cross-sectional surveys [47, 49]. Among children at risk for atopic-related illness, exposure to rhinitis, croup, and recurrent ear infection early in life shows protection from atopy at school age [50–52].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental Profiles of Mucosal Immunity in Pre‐school Children

Ewing

Otczyk

Occhipinti

et al. 2010

Journal of Immunology Research

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This study investigated the effect of attending pre-school on mucosal immunity. Children 3.5 to 5 years of age who attended pre-school were observed for a 10 month period. Demographic information was collected on previous childcare experiences, the home environment and clinical information relating to the child and the family. A daily illness log was kept for each child. A multivariate longitudinal analysis of the relation between immunoglobulins in saliva and age, gender, childcare experience, pre-school exposure, number of siblings, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), atopy and hospitalisation was conducted. There was a positive association of higher IgA levels with the winter season and with children being older than 4 years (P < .001), having attended childcare prior to commencing pre-school (P < .05), and having been exposed to ETS at home (P < .05). Lower IgA levels were associated with being atopic (P < .05). Higher IgG levels were associated with exposure to ETS (P < .001), while lower levels were associated to having atopy. Higher IgM levels were associated with previous childcare experience (P < .01) whilst having been hospitalised was associated with having low salivary IgM levels (P < .01). Lagged analyses demonstrated that immunological parameters were affected by the number of respiratory infections in the preceding 2 months.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental Profiles of Mucosal Immunity in Pre‐school Children

Ewing

Otczyk

Occhipinti

et al. 2010

Journal of Immunology Research

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“…Strachan hypothesized that childhood infections may be protective against allergy, but that declining family size and improved sanitation may have reduced exposure to infectious agents during early childhood thus resulting in the rising prevalence of allergy [47]. The hygiene hypothesis has been supported epidemiologic studies that reported an inverse association between allergy and higher birth order [48-50] or early daycare attendance [51, 52], similar to the associations seen with childhood leukemia. Allergies and asthma have generally been associated in an inverse relationship with leukemia as detailed in a recent meta-analysis on the subject [53].…”

Section: Patterns Of Infection and Acute Lymphocytic Leukemiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives on the causes of childhood leukemia

Wiemels

2012

Chemico-Biological Interactions

220

155

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Acute leukemia is the most common cancer in children but the causes of the disease in the majority of cases are not known. About 80% are precursor-B cell in origin (CD19+, CD10+), and this immunophenotype has increased in incidence over the past several decades in the Western world. Part of this increase may be due to the introduction of new chemical exposures into the child's environment including parental smoking, pesticides, traffic fumes, paint and household chemicals. However, much of the increase in leukemia rates is likely linked to altered patterns of infection during early childhood development, mirroring causal pathways responsible for a similarly increased incidence of other childhood-diagnosed immune-related illnesses including allergy, asthma, and type 1 diabetes. Factors linked to childhood leukemia that are likely surrogates for immune stimulation include exposure to childcare settings, parity status and birth order, vaccination history, and population mixing. In case-control studies, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is consistently inversely associated with greater exposure to infections, via daycare and later birth order. New evidence suggests also that children who contract leukemia may harbor a congenital defect in immune responder status, as indicated by lower levels of the immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10 at birth in children who grow up to contract leukemia, as well as higher need for clinical care for infections within the first year of life despite having lower levels of exposure to infections. One manifestation of this phenomenon may be leukemia clusters which tend to appear as a leukemia “outbreak” among populations with low herd immunity to a new infection. Critical answers to the etiology of childhood leukemia will require incorporating new tools into traditional epidemiologic approaches – including the classification of leukemia at a molecular scale, better exposure assessments at all points in a child's life, a comprehensive understanding of genetic risk factors, and an appraisal of the interplay between infectious exposures and the status of immune response in individuals.

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“…Other researchers have documented similar protective effects of day care for the development of asthma 3 and atopy. 4,5 Although it is generally thought that the pathway by which day care influences asthma risk might involve the immune system, relatively few studies have investigated relations of day-care exposure with immune system outcomes directly. Celedon et al 6 found that total IgE levels were significantly lower at 4 years of age among children who had attended day care in the first 6 months.…”

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confidence: 96%