Link Found between Cesarean Section and Allergy in Children

Children delivered through caesarian, with asthmatic parents, have greater chances of developing allergic rhinitis and atopy, say US researchers.

In a first ever study of its kind, establishing the relationship between allergic ailments in school going kids and delivery by caesarian section, the US researchers from the Harvard Medical School in Boston have been able to find that caesarian children who have either or both the parents suffering from asthma, tend to get more prone to developing allergic rhinitis and atopy.

The researchers however, also confirmed that these kids, (despite their parents suffering from it) do not develop asthma.

The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunologydefine, in the first week of this month, was conducted on a group of 432 children between the age group of 0-9 years.

As part of the research, 271 children were made to undergo skin allergy testing at a mean age of 7.4 years. They were called in twice a year for the clinical diagnosis of asthma and allergic rhinitis, also based on inputs from their caregivers.

It was discovered over the course of the study that, a delivery by caesarian section increased the chances of these children developing atopy and allergic diseases by 2.1 times, as compared to those who were born by a normal delivery.

The researchers concluded that while a caesarian birth did not increase chances of asthma or wheezing, it surely increased the chances of children getting allergic rhinitis by 1.8 times.

They however, did not deny the statistical limitations of the study which might have led to the non establishment of connection between caesarian section and asthma.

But at the same time, they also clarified that their study was statistically well equipped to prove the connection it has established between caesarian sections and wheezing.

According to Dr. Juan C. Celedon and his fellow researchers, the reason behind such differences in vaginal and caesarian deliveries could be due to the absence of labor and its related hormonesdefine, in addition to the lack of exposure to maternal vaginal and fecal flora during cesarean section, which could be triggering off these adverse effects on the immune systemdefine of the kids.