ArticlePloS one2022
Hygienic behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic may decrease immunoglobulin G levels: Implications for Kawasaki disease.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.
- Aeroallergen Sensitization Patterns and Related Factors in Children With Allergic Rhinitis in Guangzhou.Mediators of inflammation · 2025Article
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8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDue to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, hygienic behaviors became a new norm since January 2020. The hygiene hypothesis predicts that an excessively hygienic environment may adversely affect human health.
objectiveWe quantified the effect of COVID-19 on immunological parameters linked to the hygiene hypothesis.
methodsWe examined age-specific levels of total nonspecific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgE in individuals who visited Fukuoka Tokushukai Hospital between 2010 and 2021. Pre-COVID (2010-2019) and COVID (2020-2021) periods were compared.
resultsIgG levels steadily decreased throughout Pre-COVID period. IgG levels fell abruptly from the pre-COVID period to the COVID period in all age groups (P = 0.0271, < 0.3 years; P = 0.0096, 0.3-5 years; P = 0.0074, ≥ 5 years). The declines in IgG in < 0.3 years and that in ≥ 5 years accelerated during the COVID period. IgE levels were seasonal, but did not change noticeably from the pre-COVID to COVID period. IgG levels recorded for patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) (mean 709 mg/dL) were significantly lower than for matched control subjects (826 mg/dL) (P<0.0001). DISCUSSION: Hygienic behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak decreased the chance of infection, which may explain the decreases in IgG levels in children and adults. Neonatal IgG declined, possibly because of the decrease in maternal IgG.
conclusionHygienic behaviors decreased the IgG levels in all age groups, from neonates to adults. This downturn in IgG may lead to vulnerability to infections as well as to KD.
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