Findings among newborns vaccinated within seven days of birth
MONDAY, Sept. 25, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination within seven days of birth may reduce the risk of allergic diseases, including atopic dermatitis, according to a study published online Sept. 20 in Allergy.
Lisbeth Marianne Thøstesen, M.D., Ph.D., from Kolding Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues randomized newborns within seven days of birth to BCG or no BCG as part of the Danish Calmette Study (2012 to 2015). Over 13 months of follow-up, data were collected through telephone interviews and clinical examinations.
The researchers found that clinical atopic dermatitis was diagnosed in 466 of 2,052 children in the BCG group and 495 of 1,952 children in the control group (relative risk, 0.90; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.80 to 1.00). There was a significant difference in the effect of neonatal BCG vaccination between children with atopic predisposition (relative risk, 0.84; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.74 to 0.95) and children without atopic predisposition (relative risk, 1.09; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.88 to 1.37) (test of no interaction, P = 0.04).
“Among children with atopic predisposition, the number-needed-to-treat with BCG to prevent one case of atopic dermatitis was 21,” the authors write.
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