Smallpox vaccination and all-cause infectious disease hospitalization: a Danish register-based cohort study.
Författare
Summary, in English
BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence from observational studies and randomized trials in low-income countries that vaccinations have non-specific effects. Administration of live vaccines reduces overall child morbidity and mortality, presumably due to protection against non-targeted infections. In Denmark, the live vaccine against smallpox was phased out in the 1970s due to the eradication of smallpox. We used the phasing-out period to investigate the effect of smallpox vaccination on the risk of hospitalization for infections. METHODS: From the Copenhagen School Health Records Register, a cohort of 4048 individuals was sampled, of whom 3559 had information about receiving or not receiving smallpox vaccination. Infectious disease hospitalizations were identified in the Danish National Patient Register. RESULTS: During 87 228 person-years of follow-up, 1440 infectious disease hospitalizations occurred. Smallpox-vaccinated individuals had a reduced risk of all-cause infectious disease hospitalization compared with smallpox-unvaccinated individuals [hazard ratio (HR) 0.84; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.72-0.98]. The reduced risk of hospitalizations was seen for most subgroups of infectious diseases. The effect may have been most pronounced after early smallpox vaccination (vaccination age <3.5 years: HR 0.81; 95% CI 0.69-0.95; vaccination age ≥3.5 years: HR 0.91 95% CI 0.76-1.10). Among the smallpox-vaccinated, the risk of infectious disease hospitalization increased 6% with each 1-year increase in vaccination age (HR 1.06; 95% CI 1.02-1.10). CONCLUSION: Smallpox vaccination is associated with a reduced risk of infectious disease hospitalization in a high-income setting.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2011
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
955-963
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
International Journal of Epidemiology
Volym
40
Länkar
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Oxford University Press
Ämne
- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Clinical Microbiology, Malmö
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1464-3685