Early exposure to children in family and day care as related to adult asthma and hay fever: results from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

BACKGROUND: The literature indicates that early exposure to children in the family and to day care permanently influences the development of allergic disease. A study was undertaken to examine the associations of family size and day care with adult asthma and hay fever and to determine whether these associations are mediated through specific IgE production and whether they vary with allergic predisposition.

METHODS: 18,530 subjects aged 20-44 years from 36 areas predominantly in the market economies participated in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey and provided information through interviewer-led questionnaires. 13,932 subjects gave blood samples for measurement of specific IgE.

RESULTS: Hay fever was less common in subjects with many siblings (OR=0.92; 95% CI 0.90 to 0.95 per sib). There was a U-shaped relationship between asthma and number of siblings (quadratic effect of siblings, pwheeze=0.014, pFEV(1)=0.016). In subjects without siblings but exposed to children in day care, hay fever was less common (OR=0.76; 95% CI 0.60 to 0.98) and asthma symptoms were more common (ORwheeze=1.48; 95% CI 1.12 to 1.95). Adjustment for specific IgEs did not alter these associations. The inverse association of hay fever with siblings was found in sensitised subjects (OR=0.89; 95% CI 0.84 to 0.94) and in those with parental allergy (OR=0.91; 95% CI 0.85 to 0.97), but not in subjects without such a predisposition (OR=1.02; 95% CI 0.97 to 1.09).

CONCLUSION: Subjects exposed to many children at home or in day care experienced less hay fever and more asthma in adulthood. Microbial challenge through children may contribute to a non-allergic immunological development giving less hay fever but more airways infections predisposing to asthma. These effects were not mediated through production of specific IgE. The protective effect of siblings on hay fever was particularly strong in those with an allergic predisposition.