Asthma and allergy in children with and without prior measles mumps, and rubella vaccination

Abstract

Background:

The aim of this study was to determine whether measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination administered in early childhood was associated with asthma and allergic diseases at ages 5, 7 and 13 years in a birth cohort as the existing literature on the association between measles vaccination and allergic disease is inconclusive.

Methods:

In the Faroe Islands, 640 children were followed from birth. Follow-up examinations were performed at ages 5, 7 and 13 years. They included physical examinations and maternal questionnaires about the child’s health. At age 7 total and grass-specific IgE was quantified in serum, and at age 13 the children underwent skin prick tests (SPT). At the examinations the child’s vaccination card was reviewed.

Results:

At age 5, 533 of 555 children had been vaccinated for MMR. After confounder adjustment we found early life MMR vaccination to be associated with a two-third reduction in the odds of asthma (OR: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.12; 0.90) and hypersensitivity/allergy (OR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.11; 0.88) at age 5, and the substantially decreased odds of asthma were replicated at age 13 (OR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.08; 0.56). At age 7 serum total IgE was reduced by 62.8% (CI 95%: −84.3%; −11.9%) in the vaccinated children. MMR vaccination was not significantly associated with allergic rhinoconjuctivitis symptoms, eczema, or SPT reactions at age 13.

Conclusions:

MMR vaccination early in life may have a protective effect against allergy at least up to age 7 and against asthma through age 13 years.