Oct 16, 2006, 4:26 GMT
Munich, Germany Vaccinations received by infants do not increase their chances of developing asthma according to a study published by Germany's Professional Association of Paediatricians.
The study was carried out by a team of Swiss and British doctors led by paediatrician Claudia Kuehni. A total of 8,700 children were examined.
The results discount the argument put forward by opponents of vaccinations that immunising a baby can lead to asthma in later years, according to the Association of Paediatricians.
The association believes the study, that was presented at a congress of European pulmonary specialists in Munich, conclusively discredits this argument.
Only 8 per cent of the children who had been properly immunised suffered from chronic-allergic asthma.
In contrast, 15 per cent who were not vaccinated or improperly vaccinated suffered from asthma.
Wheezing was found in 14 per cent of properly immunised children, but 21 per cent of non-immunised children had the same breathing problem.
These figures confirm experiences in former East Germany, according to the president of the association, Wolfram Hartmann.
In East Germany all children were immunised. 'Allergies and asthma were almost unknown at that time,' says Hartmann.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, levels of vaccination fell with the disappearance of obligation to immunise. The levels of allergies 'drastically increased' at the same time.
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