Waterbury, CT ENDOTOXIN EXPOSURE AND ECZEMA IN THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE

(allergy promoting), at this time the findings of this study are associational and not causal. There are numerous confounding factors that may have resulted in the observed associations. The authors proposed that there may have been cultural biases in diagnosis. It is also unusual that this association only held for vitamin use at 3 and 6 months of age but not at 3 years of age. It was noted that formula-fed infants who received (but did not need) multivitamins were at higher risk of food allergy than breastfed infants who received multivitamins. The authors could not evaluate the possibility that formula-fed infants were given multivitamins, because they had illnesses (such as atopic dermatitis or food allergy) that may have led to such interventions. The authors also indicated that it is possible that persons inclined to use multivitamins are also persons who are more likely to report their child’s health problems or seek more medical diagnoses for their child’s symptoms. Last, these data were collected 15 years ago, and since then the rates of asthma and food allergy have apparently increased significantly. It is not clear that the results would be similar today. The numerous potential confounding influences in this study require that the results be confirmed in other studies before any specific recommendations can be made.