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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Kids who get sick more often before age 3 may be more likely to develop eczema. Two birth cohorts — one Danish, one American — found a dose-dependent relationship between early infection burden and childhood atopic dermatitis (AD). The more infections, the higher the odds, with respiratory infections and ear infections showing the strongest links.
Children who experience a higher number of infections in their first three years of life face significantly greater odds of developing atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a new study published in JAMA Dermatology. Researchers analyzed two birth cohorts — 663 children from the Danish COPSAC2010 study and 707 from the U.S. VDAART cohort — and found a consistent, dose-dependent relationship between early infection burden and childhood eczema risk.
The association held up even after adjusting for antibiotic use, filaggrin gene mutations, and other confounders. Notably, the findings challenge the classic "hygiene hypothesis," which suggests more early microbial exposure reduces allergic disease risk — here, more infections correlated with more AD.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: These findings suggest that frequent early-life infections and eczema may share an underlying vulnerability — possibly related to epithelial barrier dysfunction — rather than one directly causing the other. The research adds an important piece to understanding AD's complex origins, though experts caution that the observational design limits causal conclusions.
