Abstract
Surrogate measures of infectious exposures have been consistently associated with lower childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) risk. However, recent reports have suggested that physician-diagnosed early-life infections increase ALL risk, thereby raising the possibility that stronger responses to infections might promote risk. We examined whether medically diagnosed infections were related to childhood ALL risk in an integrated health-care system in the United States. Cases of ALL (n=435) diagnosed between 1994-2014 among children aged 0-14 years, along with matched controls (n=2,170), were identified at Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate risk of ALL associated with history of infections during first year of life and across the lifetime (up to diagnosis). History of infection during first year of life was not associated with ALL risk (odds ratio (OR)=0.85, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.60, 1.21). However, infections with at least 1 medication prescribed (i.e., more "severe" infections) were inversely associated with risk (OR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.88). Similar associations were observed when the exposure window was expanded to include medication-prescribed infections throughout the subjects' lifetime (OR=0.52, 95% CI: 0.32, 0.85).
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
