History of respiratory infections in the first 12 yr among children from a birth cohort.
Respiratory infections are the most frequent health problem in childhood. There is little precise information on how many respiratory illness episodes can be expected in a normal child. This study was designed to create reference values for the frequency of respiratory infections as recordable by history. Respiratory illnesses were recorded in a prospective birth cohort of 1314 German children born in 1990 and tracked until age 12 yr (760 children). Parents recorded the child's illnesses in a diary and answered structured questions yearly up to age 12. Age of study subjects was categorized into infancy (0-2 yr), pre-school age (3-5 yr), and school age (6-12 yr). The mean cumulative number of respiratory infection episodes up to age 12 yr was 21.9 (s.d. 9.0) episodes. In infancy, the mean annual number was 3.4 (3.7) episodes; at pre-school age, 2.3 (2.6) episodes; and at school, age 1.1 (1.2) episodes. The mean cumulative time of episodes up to age 7 yr was 20.1 (15.2) wk. Forty-five percent of the infants in the upper episode incidence tertile continued to be in the upper tertile at school age. Based on a twofold standard deviation of the mean number, up to 11 respiratory infection episodes per year in infancy, 8 episodes per year at pre-school age, and 4 episodes per year at school age could be regarded as normal. Episodes within these reference values per se should not cause unwarranted concern or intervention because of suspected immunodeficiency.
Grüber
Christoph
C
Department of Pediatric Pneumology and Immunology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany. christoph.grueber@charite.de
Keil
Thomas
T
Kulig
Michael
M
Roll
Stephanie
S
Wahn
Ulrich
U
Wahn
Volker
V
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003139:Common Cold / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D007073:Immunoglobulin E