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Childhood hospitalization for infection linked to adult cardiometabolic disease
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According to a recent study in Pediatrics, infection-related hospitalizations and treatment for infections may be a childhood determinant of adverse adult cardiometabolic conditions.
“Cardiometabolic diseases are increasing rapidly in prevalence and will remain the leading causes of morbidity worldwide,” David P. Burgner, MD, PhD, of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Victoria, Australia, and colleagues wrote. “Children hospitalized with infection may represent an at-risk group for later noncommunicable disease.”
The researchers analyzed existing data on 1,376 pediatric patients aged 3 to 9 years. Participants were from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, a study that tracked the lifetime health of participants starting in 1980, with follow-up data available from 2001, 2007 and 2011.
Study results showed that infection-related hospitalization of children aged younger than 5 years was associated with adverse adult metabolic variables, but not childhood metabolic variables. Metabolic conditions with an increased risk included increased BMI (P = .02) and metabolic syndrome (RR = 1.56; 95% CI, 1.03-2.35).
Increased risk for adverse metabolic conditions in adulthood was associated with the age at which a child experienced an infection-related hospitalization. Adults were more likely to have an increased BMI at age 24 years if they had been hospitalized for an infection when they were aged younger than 5 years.
Study results also revealed that adults with more than one childhood infection-related hospitalization were at the greatest risk for adverse adult cardiometabolic conditions.
The researchers said these risks also may be apparent for those hospitalized with viral infections during childhood because of unnecessary antibiotic exposure.
“Children hospitalized with infection are likely to receive empirical parenteral antibiotics, even for viral infections, because distinguishing bacterial from viral infection clinically is often difficult,” Burgner and colleagues wrote. – by David Costill
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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