Lachover-Roth Idit, Cohen-Engler Anat, Furman Yael, Rosman Yossi, Meir-Shafrir Keren, Mozer-Mandel Michal, Farladansky-Gershnabel Sivan, Biron-Shental Tal, Confino-Cohen Ronit
Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel.
Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Front Allergy. 2024 Dec 16;5:1512182. doi: 10.3389/falgy.2024.1512182. eCollection 2024.
Asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and food allergy are type 2 inflammation diseases. Since the 1960s, the prevalence of those diseases has steadily increased, presumably due to the "Hygiene hypothesis" which suggests that early exposure of infants to pathogens, siblings, and environmental dust, has a protective effect against the development of allergic diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic increased environmental hygiene due to lockdowns, masks, and social distancing.
To compare the prevalence of allergic diseases among children born before and during the pandemic.
The Cow's Milk Early Exposure Trial prospectively followed newborns until 12-months of age using monthly survey and examined milk allergy development. Some were born before the first COVID-19 lockdown in Israel (April 2018-March 2020), and some were born during the pandemic (March 2020-May 2021). The monthly surveys included questions regarding atopic comorbidities.
A total of 1,989 infants completed 12-months of follow-up. Among them, 1,086(54.5%) were diagnosed with at least one atopic disease. Among 235 infants born after the last lockdown, 162 were diagnosed with airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR)(68.9%), significantly more than in any other group. No other significant differences were found between the study groups.
There was no significant difference in the development of atopic comorbidities between infants born before and during the pandemic. Significantly more infants who were born after restrictions were eased were diagnosed AHR. A longer follow-up period is needed to obtain a better understanding of the influence of the COVID-19 restrictions on the development of atopic comorbidities.
NIH Clinical Trials Registry: NCT02785679.
哮喘、过敏性鼻炎、特应性皮炎和食物过敏均为2型炎症性疾病。自20世纪60年代以来，这些疾病的患病率稳步上升，推测是由于“卫生假说”，该假说表明婴儿早期接触病原体、兄弟姐妹和环境灰尘对过敏性疾病的发展具有保护作用。2019冠状病毒病大流行因封锁、口罩和社交距离增加了环境卫生。
比较大流行前和大流行期间出生的儿童中过敏性疾病的患病率。
“牛奶早期暴露试验”对新生儿进行前瞻性随访至12个月龄，每月进行调查并检查牛奶过敏的发生情况。一些婴儿在以色列首次实施2019冠状病毒病封锁之前出生（2018年4月至2020年3月），一些在大流行期间出生（2020年3月至2021年5月）。每月的调查包括有关特应性合并症的问题。
共有1989名婴儿完成了12个月的随访。其中，1086名（54.5%）被诊断患有一种或多种特应性疾病。在最后一次封锁后出生的235名婴儿中，162名被诊断为气道高反应性（AHR）（68.9%），明显高于其他任何组。研究组之间未发现其他显著差异。
大流行前和大流行期间出生的婴儿在特应性合并症的发生方面没有显著差异。限制措施放宽后出生的婴儿被诊断为AHR的明显更多。需要更长的随访期来更好地了解2019冠状病毒病限制措施对特应性合并症发展的影响。
美国国立卫生研究院临床试验注册中心：NCT02785679。
