Is Infant Immunization a Risk Factor for Childhood Asthma or Allergy?

Pertussis vaccination in infancy and asthma or allergy in later childhood: birth cohort study

“…Some studies have shown a link between vaccination of infants with whole cell inactivated pertussis vaccine and the later development of asthma and atopy 1 2. A randomised controlled trial disagreed with these findings, but follow up was done until only 30 months of age 3.…”

Infections in asthma and allergy

“…The immune response induced by measles9 and other vaccines or their adjuvants is consistent with the possibility that increased availability of vaccination rather than reduced exposure to infection might have contributed to the increased prevalence of allergic disease. This question is difficult to address in most developed societies where most vaccinations are now too ubiquitous and the few who remain unvaccinated are an atypical group 10. Farooqi and Hopkin have looked specifically at two vaccinations introduced relatively recently, pertussis and measles, and found that most of the subjects received both vaccines, but that doctor diagnosed asthma, eczema, and hay fever were increased in those who received pertussis immunisation compared with the 27% who did not.…”

Timing of routine immunisations and subsequent hay fever risk

“…While positive associations have been reported with atopic disease, 11 allergy related respiratory symptoms, 12 and allergic illnesses, 13 other studies have found no association between DTP vaccination and allergic diseases, 14 hay fever, 15 or atopy assessed by skin prick tests. 16 17 The triple vaccine against mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) has also been hypothesised as a risk factor for atopy, mainly due to the measles component, but again the evidence is inconsistent.…”