Palivizumab Exposure and the Risk of Autoimmune Disease: A Cross-National Cohort Study

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelfagfællebedømt

BACKGROUND: Treatment with biologic pharmaceuticals may be associated with an increased risk of immune-mediated disease. Palivizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody designed to provide passive immunity against respiratory syncytial virus infection. Palivizumab is primarily used in preterm children known to be immunologically immature. The long-term effect of palivizumab in terms of autoimmune diseases has not yet been investigated.

AIM: Our objective was to investigate whether exposure to palivizumab was associated with the development of autoimmune diseases in children.

METHODS: This was a population-based cohort study including data from 769,523 Danish children born between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 2010 and data from 581,742 Swedish children born between 1 July 2005 and 31 December 2010.

RESULTS: Of the 1,351,265 children included, 1192 (0.09 %) were exposed to palivizumab. Nine cases of autoimmune disease were diagnosed among palivizumab-exposed children during the period of observation. Among the children exposed to palivizumab, one child in Denmark developed inflammatory bowel disease; in Sweden, children developed juvenile arthritis (one child), diabetes mellitus (two children), celiac disease (four children), and inflammatory bowel disease (one child). The risk of autoimmune disease was not significantly increased after palivizumab exposure (hazard ratio adjusted for age and country: 1.54; 95 % confidence interval 0.80-2.95).

CONCLUSION: The risk of autoimmune disease was not increased after palivizumab exposure. Given the small number of incident cases of autoimmune disease observed, this finding should be interpreted with caution.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftPaediatric Drugs
Vol/bind18
Udgave nummer6
Sider (fra-til)435-441
Antal sider7
ISSN1174-5878
DOI
StatusUdgivet - dec. 2016

ID: 172265704