Early respiratory infections tied to celiac in high-risk children

(HealthDay)—A higher frequency of respiratory infections during the first two years of life is associated with an increased risk of celiac disease (CD) in genetically predisposed infants, according to a study published online Sept. 6 in Pediatrics.

Renata Auricchio, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, and colleagues explored the relationship between early clinical events and the development of CD in genetically predisposed infants (373 newborns from families with at least one relative with CD).

The researchers found that the cumulative incidence of CD among the cohort was 6 percent at 3 years and 13.5 percent at 5 years of age, with 14 percent of children developing CD before the sixth year of life. A higher frequency of respiratory tract infections among CD patients during the first 24 months of life was seen in an analysis of adverse events. Only respiratory infections in the second and first years of life significantly contributed to discrimination of case patients versus controls in stepwise discriminant analysis.

"A multivariate model of discriminant analysis showed that the frequency of respiratory infections in the first 2 years of life could distinguish children who developed CD from those who did not," conclude the authors.

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