Immunizing Children Is Not Associated With Increased Allergies

Many children have allergic diseases like atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis. Parents of children who have or are at a higher risk of getting these allergic diseases sometimes worry about whether the usual childhood immunizations could make allergies worse or cause their child to get allergies.

In a recent study published in the journal Allergy researchers studied the effect of immunizations in 2184 infants between 1 and 2 years old. They found that none of the immunizations caused allergies or made atopic dermatitis any worse in children who already had it.

In addition, the researchers found that children immunized with the varicella and pertussis vaccines actually had less severe atopic dermatitis.

This study should reassure parents of children with allergies or at risk of developing allergies that early childhood immunizations will not make allergies worse or cause their child to develop allergies.