BMJ  2004;328:1223 (22 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.38069.512245.FE (published 30 April 2004)

Paper

Cohort study of sibling effect, infectious diseases, and risk of atopic dermatitis during first 18 months of life

Christine Stabell Benn, research fellow1, Mads Melbye, professor of epidemiology1, Jan Wohlfahrt, statistician1, Bengt Björkstén, professor of paediatrics and allergy prevention3, Peter Aaby, professor of international health2

1 Department of Epidemiology Research, Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Statens Serum Institut, Denmark, 2 Projecto de Saúde de Bandim, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, 3 Center for Allergy Research and Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Correspondence to: C Benn cb{at}ssi.dk

Objectives To determine whether early infectious diseases could explain the association between number of siblings and other markers of microbial exposure and the development of atopic dermatitis before the age of 18 months.

Design Cohort study. Information on atopic dermatitis, infectious diseases occurring before 6 months of age, number of siblings, early day care, pet keeping, farm residence, and background factors was collected in telephone interviews.

Setting Danish national birth cohort.

Participants 24 341 mother-child pairs.

Main outcome measures Incidence rate ratios of atopic dermatitis.

Results 13 070 children (54%) had at least one clinically apparent infectious disease before 6 months of age. At age 18 months, 2638 (10.8%) of the children had had atopic dermatitis. The risk of atopic dermatitis increased with each infectious disease before 6 months of age (incidence rate ratio 1.08, 95% confidence interval 1.04 to 1.13). The risk of atopic dermatitis decreased with each additional exposure to three or more siblings, day care, pet ownership, and farm residence (0.86, 0.81 to 0.93).

Conclusions Early infections do not seem to protect against allergic diseases. The protective effect of number of siblings, day care, pet ownership, and farm residence remained after adjustment for clinically apparent infectious diseases, suggesting that the effect is established independently early in life.


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