Association between Infection and Eosinophilic Esophagitis.

Background/aims: This study examined the association between eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and () infection.

Methods: A single tertiary referral center case-control study was performed. EoE patients diagnosed at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital from July 2003 to March 2022 were reviewed retrospectively. Forty-five EoE patients were included in the analysis. For each EoE patient, two age and sex-matched normal controls were selected randomly from an outpatient population who received upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

Results: Although 17 out of 90 (18.9%) controls had a infection, only two out of 45 (4.4%) EoE patients showed evidence of a infection. EoE was inversely associated with a infection (odds ratio 0.20, 95% confidence interval 0.04-0.91, p=0.044).

Conclusions: An inverse association was observed between infection and EoE. Further prospective studies will be needed to validate the protective effects of infection for EoE.