Does Mode of Delivery Affect Asthma Developing in Children Who Had Neonatal Sepsis

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is therefore to evaluate whether mode of delivery (normal versus elective cesarean section) has an influence on the development of asthma in children who had neonatal sepsis. It is known that neonatal sepsis and mode of delivery have some effect on children developing asthma, but no study has evaluated both of these factors in the same group. Materials and Methods: Patients born either vaginally (n=15) or via elective C-section (n=20) with proven sepsis and their healthy siblings born either vaginally (n=20) or via elective C-section (n=20) were included in the study. All children were evaluated with ISAAC questionnaires, physical examination, eosinophil counts, serum IgE levels, and aeroallergen sensitivity via the Phadiatop test. Results: Only a few allergic infants were observed when they were evaluated with strict inclusion and disease definition criteria. In addition, adjusted risk ratios indicated that both mode of delivery and sepsis had no risk in the development of asthma and allergic diseases. Conclusion: When evaluated with strict inclusion and disease definition criteria, we observed that neither sepsis nor mode of delivery affected the development of asthma in these children.