Abstract
BackgroundSeveral epidemiological studies have examined the possibility of a relationship between season of birth and atopic dermatitis (AD) and food allergy (FA), yet their results are contradictory. We investigated the association between season of birth and risk of AD and FA in Japanese infants.MethodsStudy subjects were 612 newborn infants born at a single obstetric/pediatric clinic without perinatal diseases. Season of birth was classified as spring (March–May), summer (June–August), autumn (September–November) or winter (December–February). AD was diagnosed according to the United Kingdom Working Party’s criteria. FA was defined as present if there was a history of immediate allergic symptoms within 2 h after ingestion of a food. Specific IgE to the corresponding food was also assessed to support the diagnosis. We assessed the association between season of birth and risk of AD and FA using Cox proportional hazard models.ResultsWe identified a total of 365 cases of AD occurring during 3659 person-months of follow-up. Compared with summer birth, autumn, winter, and spring birth were significantly positively associated with the risk of AD: adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were 2.67 (1.96–3.63), 1.42 (1.03–1.95), and 1.43 (1.04–1.98), respectively. We identified a total of 23 cases of physician-diagnosed FA occurring during 6815 person-months of follow-up.ConclusionsBeing born in the summer is associated with a lower risk of AD compared to other seasons of birth. The low incidence of FA in our cohort group made it difficult to establish a valid association between FA and season of birth as the statistical power was low.
Highlights
Several epidemiological studies have examined the possibility of a relationship between season of birth and atopic dermatitis (AD) and food allergy (FA), yet their results are contradictory
In the present birth cohort study, we examine the association between birth season and the risk of AD and FA in Japanese infants
We identified a total of 23 cases of physician-diagnosed FA occurring during 6815 person-months of follow-up, including 11 hen’s egg, 8 milk, 1 wheat, 2 soybean and 2 fish allergies
Summary
Several epidemiological studies have examined the possibility of a relationship between season of birth and atopic dermatitis (AD) and food allergy (FA), yet their results are contradictory. In a Japanese cohort study in infants, birth in spring compared with birth in any other season was inversely associated with the risk of AD, whereas birth in autumn or winter compared with birth in any other season was associated with an increased risk of AD [7]. In a birth cohort study in Sweden, atopic disease was more common among children who were born in the autumn or winter than among those born in spring or summer [12]. In Australia, autumn/winter births were associated with an increased prevalence of food allergy compared to spring/summer births in children aged 0 to 4 years [19]. In a study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III in the U.S, a positive association was observed between autumn birth and the prevalence of FA only in children with eczema, but not in those without eczema [20]
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