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| |  Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy Increases Multi-Trigger Wheeze Risk in Children: Presented at EAACI By Sara Freeman LONDON -- June 10, 2010 -- Prenatal use of acetaminophen is an independent risk factor for multiple-trigger wheeze in children of preschool age, according to study findings presented at the 29th Congress of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI). However, use of the anti-inflammatory agent is not associated with an increased risk of overall wheeze, according to Hretna Thengilsdottir, MD, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. The findings come from an ongoing, prospective, longitudinal cohort study of Swedish children born in 2003. "The aim of this analysis was to test the association between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and overall preschool wheezing disorder, episodic viral wheeze, and multiple-trigger wheeze," Dr. Thengilsdottir explained here on June 6. A total of 8,176 families were randomly selected to participate in the observational study and the newborn infant's parents answered questionnaires about maternal medication during pregnancy at 3 time points: when their child was aged 6 months, 12 months, and 4.5 years. The response rate at the last assessment was 83% (n = 5,398). Over one quarter (28.4%) of women took some medication during their pregnancy, of which 4.2% had taken asthma or other anti-allergy medications, 7.6% had taken acetaminophen, and 19.4% had taken other medications. No data on the amount or timing of acetaminophen use were collated during the study. The prevalence of overall wheezing disorder in the child, defined as >=3 wheezing episodes or wheezing treated with inhaled corticosteroids in the past year, was 8.4%. Of these children, almost two-thirds (64%) experienced episodic viral wheeze -- defined as wheezing during colds only -- and 36% had multi-trigger wheeze, defined as wheezing in-between colds. Looking at the risk factors for wheeze, Dr. Thengilsdottir noted that children whose mothers had taken acetaminophen during their pregnancy were more likely to experience multi-trigger wheeze than those children whose mothers had not taken the anti-inflammatory agent. The association held in both univariate and multivariate analysis, with respective odds ratios of 2.3 and 2.4. "Prenatal acetaminophen exposure increased the risk of multi-trigger wheeze but not of episodic viral wheeze," said Dr. Thengilsdottir. As expected, the use of allergy or asthma medications during pregnancy was also associated with a higher risk of children developing a wheezing disorder. [Presentation title: Paracetamol in Pregnancy Seems to Increase the Risk of Multiple-Trigger Wheeze but Not of Overall Wheezing Disorder in Preschool Age. Abstract 31]
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