Allergy and immunology in young children of Japan: The JECS cohort

Kiwako Yamamoto-Hanada; Kyongsun Pak; Mayako Saito-Abe; Limin Yang; Miori Sato; Makoto Irahara; Hidetoshi Mezawa; Hatoko Sasaki; Minaho Nishizato; Kazue Ishitsuka; Yukihiro Ohya; Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS) Group

doi:10.1016/j.waojou.2020.100479

Allergy and immunology in young children of Japan: The JECS cohort

World Allergy Organ J. 2020 Nov 7;13(11):100479. doi: 10.1016/j.waojou.2020.100479. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Authors

Kiwako Yamamoto-Hanada^{1

2}, Kyongsun Pak³, Mayako Saito-Abe^{1

2}, Limin Yang^{1

2}, Miori Sato^{1

2}, Makoto Irahara^{1

2}, Hidetoshi Mezawa², Hatoko Sasaki², Minaho Nishizato², Kazue Ishitsuka², Yukihiro Ohya^{1

2}; Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS) Group

Collaborators

Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS) Group:
Michihiro Kamijima, Shin Yamazaki, Yukihiro Ohya, Reiko Kishi, Nobuo Yaegashi, Koichi Hashimoto, Chisato Mori, Shuichi Ito, Zentaro Yamagata, Hidekuni Inadera, Takeo Nakayama, Hiroyasu Iso, Masayuki Shima, Youichi Kurozawa, Narufumi Suganuma, Koichi Kusuhara, Takahiko Katoh

Affiliations

¹ Allergy Center, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
² Medical Support Center for the Japan Environment and Children's Study, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Division of Biostatistics, Department of Data Management, Center for Clinical Research and Development, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

Background: Capturing epidemiological signatures is essential to document burdens of disease and to design health care services, including prevention measures, clinical interventions, and policies. There are large geographical and ethnic variations in the epidemiology of allergic and immunological diseases. Various data are available from North America and Europe, but the epidemiology of allergic and immunological diseases in Asia is not well documented.

Objective: To characterize epidemiological signatures of allergic and immunological disease in young children in Japan.

Methods: This was a national, multicenter, prospective birth cohort study: Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). A general population of 103,060 women was enrolled during pregnancy. Allergic and immunological outcomes were assessed among young children using questionnaire data.

Results: The prevalence of caregiver-reported immediate food allergy was 7.6%, 6.7%, and 4.9% at age 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. Hen egg allergy was most common (5.4% prevalence at age 1 year) followed by allergies to cow milk and wheat. Several patterns of allergic symptom clusters were identified. Physician diagnosed, as reported by the caregiver, non-IgE mediated gastrointestinal food allergy affected 0.5% of infants. By contrast, caregiver-reported gastrointestinal food allergies affected 1.4% of children. Kawasaki disease affected 0.3% and 0.4% children, respectively, at age 1 and 3 years. Primary immunodeficiency disorders affected 0.005% children at age 3 years.

Conclusion: These data provide important epidemiological signatures of allergy and immunology in young Japanese children including the age-specific prevalence of allergic disease, Kawasaki disease, and primary immune deficiency.

Keywords: Asthma; Atopic dermatitis; Atopic dermatitis, AD; Atopic march; Children; Eczema; Epidemiology; Food allergy; GI, gastrointestinal; ISAAC, The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood; Kawasaki disease; Kawasaki disease, KD; Primary immune deficiency; University Hospital Medical Information Network, UMIN; Wheeze; food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome, FPIES; primary immunodeficiency disorder, PID.