The influence of Epstein‐Barr virus and cytomegalovirus on childhood respiratory health: A population‐based prospective cohort study

Abstract

Background Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection are common in early childhood. CMV infection favours a T‐helper‐1 and EBV infection a T‐helper‐2 cell response, possibly leading to disbalanced T‐helper cell response, and subsequent risk of asthma or atopy. Objective To study the associations of EBV and CMV with lung function, asthma and inhalant allergic sensitization at school age. Methods This study among 3546 children was embedded in a population‐based prospective cohort. At age 6 years, serum IgG levels against EBV and CMV were measured by ELISA. At age 10 years, lung function was measured by spirometry, asthma by questionnaire and inhalant allergic sensitization by skin prick test. Results Unadjusted models showed that seropositivity for EBV was associated with a higher FEV1 and FEF75 (Z‐score difference (95% CI): 0.09 (0.02, 0.16) and 0.09 (0.02, 0.15)), while seropositivity for CMV was not. Specific combinations of viruses showed that seropositivity for EBV was only associated with FEV1 and FEF75 in the presence of seropositivity for CMV (0.12 (0.04, 0.20)) and 0.08 (0.01, 0.15)). Seropositivity for CMV in the absence of seropositivity for EBV was associated with an increased risk of inhalant allergic sensitization (OR (95% CI): 1.31 (1.02, 1.68)). All effect estimates attenuated into non‐significant mainly after adjustment for child's ethnicity. Seropositivity for EBV or CMV was not associated with asthma. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Associations of EBV and CMV infections in early childhood with school‐age lung function and inhalant allergic sensitization are explained by ethnicity, or sociodemographic and lifestyle‐related factors.

Developments in the field of allergy in 2020 through the eyes of Clinical and Experimental Allergy

“…Other work covered the issue of product availability for venom immunotherapy in the UK, 115 epidemiology of allergic and respiratory disease 116‐119 , 120 , 121 occupational allergies, 122‐124 advances in allergy diagnostics 125‐133 , 134 , 135 , 136 , animal model work 137 138 , 139 , 140 , 141 , investigation of infant airway epithelium, 142 a possible association between tree pollen exposure and reduced lung function 143 and evaluations of allergy service delivery 144‐147 …”