ArticleInternational journal of epidemiology2022
Common maternal infections during pregnancy and childhood leukaemia in the offspring: findings from six international birth cohorts.
Article in International journal of epidemiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Maternal infection during pregnancy and the risk of childhood cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Maternal prenatal infection and childhood leukaemia: a Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium (CLIC) meta-analysis.International journal of epidemiology · 2025Pooled it
- Immunology of pregnancy and sepsis: shared and specific pathways guiding future precision care.EBioMedicine · 2026Review
- Impact of Deoxynivalenol, Cytokines, and Particulate Matter on Human Trophoblast Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Maternal serum concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the Finnish Maternity Cohort.Environmental research · 2026Article
- Exposure to Acetaminophen (Paracetamol) during Pregnancy and Childhood Cancer: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2026Article
- The Mutational Epidemiology of Childhood Cancer.Clinical chemistry · 2025Review
- Survey of practices of handling exposure measurement errors in modern epidemiology: are the best practices in statistics being adopted by epidemiologists?BMC medical research methodology · 2025Article
- Integrating infectious diseases into life course epidemiology.International journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Syphilis Exposure During Pregnancy and Childhood Hospital Admissions in Brazil.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Maternal illnesses during pregnancy and the risk of childhood cancer: A medical-record based analysis (UKCCS).International journal of cancer · 2025Article
- Early Infection Incidence and Risk of Acute Leukemia Development Among Mexican Children.Cancers · 2025Article
- Gaps in the usage and reporting of multiple imputation for incomplete data: findings from a scoping review of observational studies addressing causal questions.BMC medical research methodology · 2024Article
- Association of common maternal infections with birth outcomes: a multinational cohort study.Infection · 2024Article
- Maternal medically diagnosed infection and antibiotic prescription during pregnancy and risk of childhood cancer: A population-based cohort study in Taiwan, 2004 to 2015.International journal of cancer · 2024Article
- In Utero Origins of Acute Leukemia in Children.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- A nationwide longitudinal investigation on the role of prenatal exposure to infectious diseases on the onset of chronic conditions in children and adolescents in Brazil.Wellcome open research · 2024Article
- Association between medically diagnosed postnatal infection and childhood cancers: A matched case-control study in Denmark, 1978 to 2016.International journal of cancer · 2023Article
- Maternal infections and medications in pregnancy: how does self-report compare to medical records in childhood cancer case-control studies?International journal of epidemiology · 2023Article
- Evaluation of Maternal Infection During Pregnancy and Childhood Leukemia Among Offspring in Denmark.JAMA network open · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
22 authors at 13 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrevious epidemiological studies have found positive associations between maternal infections and childhood leukaemia; however, evidence from prospective cohort studies is scarce. We aimed to examine the associations using large-scale prospective data.
methodsData were pooled from six population-based birth cohorts in Australia, Denmark, Israel, Norway, the UK and the USA (recruitment 1950s-2000s). Primary outcomes were any childhood leukaemia and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL); secondary outcomes were acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and any childhood cancer. Exposures included maternal self-reported infections [influenza-like illness, common cold, any respiratory tract infection, vaginal thrush, vaginal infections and urinary tract infection (including cystitis)] and infection-associated symptoms (fever and diarrhoea) during pregnancy. Covariate-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated using multilevel Cox models.
resultsAmong 312 879 children with a median follow-up of 13.6 years, 167 leukaemias, including 129 ALL and 33 AML, were identified. Maternal urinary tract infection was associated with increased risk of any leukaemia [HR (95% CI) 1.68 (1.10-2.58)] and subtypes ALL [1.49 (0.87-2.56)] and AML [2.70 ([0.93-7.86)], but not with any cancer [1.13 (0.85-1.51)]. Respiratory tract infection was associated with increased risk of any leukaemia [1.57 (1.06-2.34)], ALL [1.43 (0.94-2.19)], AML [2.37 (1.10-5.12)] and any cancer [1.33 (1.09-1.63)]; influenza-like illness showed a similar pattern but with less precise estimates. There was no evidence of a link between other infections and any outcomes.
conclusionsUrinary tract and respiratory tract infections during pregnancy may be associated with childhood leukaemia, but the absolute risk is small given the rarity of the outcome.
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