Immunisation and later onset asthma - study shows no link

Childhood immunization and atopic disease into middle-age - a prospective cohort study.

To address possible associations between childhood immunizations and asthma and allergies in middle-aged adults, the researchers assessed data from the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study on 5,729 participants who were followed-up from ages 7 to 44. Most of the participants (up to 90.7%) had undergone childhood immunization against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, and/or smallpox. By the age of 44 years, 11.2% of the participants had been diagnosed with asthma; 11.1% had at least one food allergy; 37.0% had eczema; and 50.3% had hayfever. After accounting for confounders, multivariable regression analysis revealed no significant associations between any childhood immunization and asthma (odds ratios [ORs] ranging from 0.87 to 1.17), eczema (ORs=0.99-1.07), food allergy (ORs=0.97-1.11), and hayfever (ORs=1.02-1.05) at age 44 years. Cox regression analysis also revealed no significant associations between any childhood immunization and incident asthma after the age of 7 years (ORs=1.03-1.21).


Matheson MC, Walters EH, Burgess JA et al, Childhood immunization and atopic disease into middle-age - a prospective cohort study. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology,