Serious Infections in Infancy Increase Risk of Arthritis

Serious infections during the first year of a child’s life seem to increase the risk of developing arthritis in early adulthood, indicates research published ahead of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Using data from national registers on hospital treatment and episodes of arthritic disease, the Swedish researchers tracked the health of over 3500 people born between 1973 and 2002.

Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis
The exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown. Risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis include sex, age, tissue type, infections etc.

This included information on their mothers’ health, details of the pregnancy and birth, and whether they had had any infections during the first 12 months of their lives.

Compared with people without inflammatory disease, being born early, small, or underweight reduced the likelihood of developing rheumatoid arthritis as a young adult. But having more than three siblings increased it.

A longer than average pregnancy also boosted the chances of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a form of arthritis that affects only young children and teens.

Immunization in Children
Prior to 1974, there was no organized immunization programme. Expanded programme on immunization (EPI) was introduced in 1974 by the WHO and adopted by India in 1978 without measles vaccination.

But by far the most significant factor was infections requiring admission to hospital during the first year of life.

These more than doubled the chances of rheumatoid arthritis as a young adult, and much more so in one of the two main subtypes of rheumatoid arthritis (seronegative).

New Virus Held Responsible For Respiratory Infection In Children
A new virus, named human bocavirus, that may be responsible for causing severe respiratory infections in children has been identified by a group of Swedish researchers.

Serious infections also nearly doubled the risk of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. This was particularly true of respiratory, gut, and skin/soft tissue infections.

It has been suggested that infections act as acute triggers of arthritis in later life, but in this exploratory study the authors suggest that in early life these may alter the way in which the immature immune system develops.

Source-BMJ
LIN/SK