Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children. Its exacerbation results from allergic and infectious diseases. AIM: To assess the influence of a clinical form of asthma on preschoolers' vaccine immunity following 3 years after the completion of the mandatory vaccination programme. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study encompassed 172 preschool children with asthma being newly diagnosed, including 140 patients with mild asthma and 32 with moderate asthma, whose vaccine immunity (level of IgG-specific antibodies) was assessed after the mandatory early vaccines had been administered in the early childhood. Monovalent vaccines (HBV + IPV + Hib) along with a three-component combined vaccine (DTwP) and MMR were given to 86 children while a six-component combined vaccine (DTaP + IPV + Hib + HBV) along with a three-component MMR vaccine were administered to the remaining 86 children. The immunity class for particular vaccinations was assessed according to the manufacturers' instructions. RESULTS: Children suffering from mild asthma had considerably more frequently vaccinations administered on time (p < 0.001) and the type of vaccines (monovalent or highly-combined) administered did not have a significant influence on the clinical form of asthma in the children examined (p = 0.6951). Apart from the vaccines against hepatitis B and rubella where considerably more frequently a high level of antibodies occurred in children with mild asthma, the antibody levels to other vaccines, namely diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hib and mumps, were not associated with the severity of asthma. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate asthma may have a negative impact on remote vaccine immunity to HBV and rubella.