Kaiga Chinami, Miyamoto Manabu, Matsushita Takashi, Kuramochi Yu, Tadaki Hiromi, Enseki Mayumi, Hirai Kota, Yoshihara Shigemi, Furuya Hiroyuki, Niimura Fumio, Kato Masahiko, Mochizuki Hiroyuki
Department of Pediatrics, Tokai University Hachioji Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Pediatrics, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan.
J Allergy Clin Immunol Glob. 2024 Apr 11;3(3):100256. doi: 10.1016/j.jacig.2024.100256. eCollection 2024 Aug.
It is speculated that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-associated reduction in the prevalence of respiratory tract infections has influenced the incidence of asthma in young children.
We investigated an association between the reduction in viral infections and the reduction in asthma in young children.
The subjects were infants born in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, which began in February 2020. A questionnaire survey related to asthma and allergy was conducted at 18 months and 3 years of age. These results were compared to those of age-matched infants during the nonpandemic period.
There were no epidemics of viral infectious diseases until the target child was 18 months old. At 18 months, the incidence of asthma/asthmatic bronchitis diagnosed by physicians in pandemic children was significantly lower than that in nonpandemic children. In 3-year-olds, no marked difference was observed between nonpandemic infants and pandemic children, except for an increase in respiratory syncytial virus infection in pandemic children. In a comparative study of the same children at ages 18 months and 3 years, an increased prevalence of asthma/asthmatic bronchitis was observed in pandemic children. Furthermore, the incidence of asthma after respiratory syncytial virus infection in pandemic infants was significantly lower than that in nonpandemic children.
The COVID-19 pandemic-associated reduction in respiratory tract infections may have reduced the incidence of asthma in early childhood, and respiratory syncytial virus infection after 18 months of age had little effect on the onset of asthma. These results indicate the importance of preventing respiratory tract infections in early infancy.
据推测，2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行导致呼吸道感染患病率下降，这对幼儿哮喘发病率产生了影响。
我们调查了病毒感染减少与幼儿哮喘减少之间的关联。
研究对象为2020年2月开始的日本COVID-19大流行早期出生的婴儿。在18个月和3岁时进行了有关哮喘和过敏的问卷调查。将这些结果与非大流行期间年龄匹配的婴儿的结果进行比较。
在目标儿童18个月大之前，没有病毒性传染病流行。18个月时，大流行期间儿童中经医生诊断的哮喘/喘息性支气管炎发病率显著低于非大流行期间的儿童。在3岁儿童中，除了大流行期间儿童呼吸道合胞病毒感染增加外，非大流行婴儿和大流行期间儿童之间未观察到明显差异。在对同一批儿童18个月和3岁时的比较研究中，大流行期间儿童中哮喘/喘息性支气管炎的患病率有所增加。此外，大流行期间婴儿呼吸道合胞病毒感染后哮喘的发病率显著低于非大流行期间的儿童。
COVID-19大流行相关的呼吸道感染减少可能降低了幼儿期哮喘的发病率，18个月龄后呼吸道合胞病毒感染对哮喘发病影响不大。这些结果表明在婴儿早期预防呼吸道感染的重要性。
