Atopic eczema is associated with delayed maturation of the antibody response to Pneumococcal vaccine

The aim of this study was to investigate a previously undocumented observat ion, that children with atopic eczema under 9 years of age tended to have a Door antibody response to Pneumococcal vaccination. Thirty-five children ( mean age 8.8 years, range 3-16 years) with moderate to severe atopic eczema but no history of systemic infection were studied retrospectively, Pneumoc occal antibody responses after immunization with Pneumovax II were compared with a hospital control group consisting of 36 children (mean age 6.0 year s, range 3-16 years) with recurrent upper respiratory tract infections. Onl y 17% of children with atopic eczema aged 3-8 years responded to Pneumovax. This response was significantly poorer than that of the controls (57%) (od ds ratio 0.20. 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.05-0.84, P = 0.03). There wer e no significant differences in the levels of total IgG2, the component of IgG associated with protective antibody responses to Pneumococcus between t he two groups. Delay in maturation of the total IgG and IgG2. antibody resp onse to Pneumococcus is a feature in this group of children with moderately severe atopic eczema.