Saliva contact during infancy and allergy development in school-age children

BACKGROUND: Parent-child saliva contact during infancy might stimulate the child’s immune system for effective allergy prevention. However, few studies have investigated its relation to allergy development in school-age children. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate the relationship between parent-child saliva contact during infancy and allergy development at school age. METHODS: We performed a large multicenter cross-sectional study involving Japanese school children and their parents. The self-administered questionnaires including questions from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood were distributed to 3570 elementary and junior high school children in 2 local cities. Data were analyzed for the relationship between saliva contact during infancy (age <12 months) and the risk of allergy development, specifically eczema, allergic rhinitis, and asthma. For detailed Methods, please see the Methods section in this article’s Online Repository at www.jacionline.org. RESULTS: The valid response rate was 94.7%. The mean and median age of children was 10.8 ± 2.7 and 11 (interquartile range, 9-13) years, respectively. Saliva contact via sharing eating utensils during infancy was significantly associated with a lower risk of eczema (odds ratio, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.34-0.83) at school age. Saliva contact via parental sucking of pacifiers was significantly associated with a lower risk of eczema (odds ratio, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.10-0.60) and allergic rhinitis (odds ratio, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.15-0.73), and had a borderline association with the risk of asthma in school-age children. CONCLUSIONS: Saliva contact during infancy may reduce the risk of developing eczema and allergic rhinitis in school-age children.