TOPLINE:
Sensitization by age 2 years to an allergen such as cow’s milk, egg white, peanut, cat dander, or dust mites may influence how early-life respiratory tract infections affect lung function in adulthood, new research showed. Among sensitized children, each additional month of respiratory tract infection in the first 2 years of life was associated with poorer lung function at age 25 years.
METHODOLOGY:
Researchers analyzed data from a prospective cohort study in Australia that recruited 620 infants (51.1% boys) born between 1990 and 1994 who had at least one parent or sibling with self-reported allergic disease, including asthma.
Parents answered questions until the children were 2 years old about how often their child had had a cough, rattle, or wheeze in the past month.
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