Späterer Impfzeitpunkt senkt Asthma-Risiko
Studie: Späterer Impfzeitpunkt verringert Asthma-Risiko um die Hälfte
(ir) Die Auswertung der Gesundheitsdaten von 14.000 im Jahr 1995 in der kanadischen Provinz Manitoba geborenen Kindern ergab, dass eine Verschiebung der routinemäßigen Impfungen um mindestens zwei Monate eine Halbierung des Asthmarisikos zur Folge hat.
U of M researcher links asthma, early vaccinations
By Jen Skerritt
Children who have their routine vaccinations delayed by two months or more cut their risk of asthma by half, a University of Manitoba researcher has found.
Anita Kozyrskyj, an asthma researcher in the U of M faculty of pharmacy, studied the immunization and health records of 14,000 children born in Manitoba in 1995.
Kozyrskyj found nearly 14 per cent of the children who received their first shot of diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus vaccine at two months of age developed asthma — compared with only 5.9 per cent of children who were vaccinated more than four months after the scheduled date.
Manitoba recommends vaccinating children at two months, four months, six months and 18 months of age for diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus (DPT).
The DPT causes an allergic reaction and Kozyrskyj said researchers are speculating whether children's immune systems are better able to handle the vaccine's side effects when they're older. The pertussis vaccine used in Manitoba before 1997 caused fever in some children, and some studies have linked fever in early childhood to a greater risk of developing asthma.
The study's findings are going to be published in the U.S. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology within the next few weeks.
"We're thinking that maybe if you delay this allergic response until a bit later, the child's immune system is more developed and maybe you're not seeing this effect," Kozyrskyj said.
The findings come as little surprise to parents who have spoken out against the risks of vaccinating infants at an early age.
The prevalence of childhood disorders like asthma and auto-immune disorders like autism has increased over the last few decades, leaving many parents wondering whether childhood vaccinations may be contributing to the rise.
"They're barely out of the protection of the womb before we're sticking vaccines in them," said Irene Gergus, a Winnipeg mom whose son Andrew lost his ability to speak shortly after receiving his fourth DPT shot at 18 months in 1993.
"I'm not against vaccination I just think they're too young to be receiving (them)." (...) - Winnipeg Free Press vom 24. Jan. 2008
