Smallpox vaccination and all-cause infectious disease hospitalization: a Danish register-based cohort study.
(2011) In International Journal of Epidemiology 40. p.955-963- Abstract
- 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... (More)
- 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. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1973154
- author
- Sørup, Signe ; Villumsen, Marie ; Ravn, Henrik ; Benn, Christine Stabell ; Sørensen, Thorkild I A ; Aaby, Peter ; Jess, Tine and Roth, Adam LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2011
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- International Journal of Epidemiology
- volume
- 40
- pages
- 955 - 963
- publisher
- Oxford University Press
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000294108700021
- pmid:21543446
- scopus:80051938730
- ISSN
- 1464-3685
- DOI
- 10.1093/ije/dyr063
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 217e04a9-e314-4437-8f3c-1094b73b327b (old id 1973154)
- alternative location
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21543446?dopt=Abstract
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 08:12:39
- date last changed
- 2022-04-07 23:34:58
@article{217e04a9-e314-4437-8f3c-1094b73b327b, abstract = {{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.}}, author = {{Sørup, Signe and Villumsen, Marie and Ravn, Henrik and Benn, Christine Stabell and Sørensen, Thorkild I A and Aaby, Peter and Jess, Tine and Roth, Adam}}, issn = {{1464-3685}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{955--963}}, publisher = {{Oxford University Press}}, series = {{International Journal of Epidemiology}}, title = {{Smallpox vaccination and all-cause infectious disease hospitalization: a Danish register-based cohort study.}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyr063}}, doi = {{10.1093/ije/dyr063}}, volume = {{40}}, year = {{2011}}, }