Season of Birth Linked to Asthma, Allergic Rhinitis

FRIDAY, Aug. 16, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Season of birth (SOB) is associated with asthma and allergic rhinitis, according to a letter to the editor published online July 19 in Clinical and Translational Allergy.

Riikka Hänninen, from the University of Eastern Finland Joensuu in Kuopio, and colleagues examined the potential association of SOB with airway allergy and related diseases in Finland using a randomly sampled retrospective registry-based follow-up study of 74,868 patients (mean age, 34.53 years).

The population was divided into four groups based on SOB. The researchers found that the proportion with asthma was 43.1, 42.1, 41.1, and 42.7 percent for the winter, spring, summer, and autumn SOB groups, respectively. The corresponding proportions with allergic rhinitis were 12.6, 12.0, 10.7, and 12.1 percent. Compared with summer SOB, being born in any other season was significantly associated with allergic rhinitis, and being born in autumn or winter was associated with asthma. In adjusted models, no significant association was seen for chronic rhinosinusitis, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-exacerbated respiratory disease, or nonallergic rhinitis.

“Our results strengthen the previous findings that early life events have a role in allergy-related chronic airway diseases, and even with adult onset of them, and highlight the need to focus also on early life factors in prevention of chronic inflammatory airway disease burden,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text