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Preschool-aged children with AD, aeroallergen sensitization faced risk for asthma
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Children with atopic dermatitis who developed sensitization to aeroallergens were more at risk for asthma during school years, according to research presented at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology annual congress in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“Over the last decades, it has been strengthened, the so-called ‘atopic march’ theory, defined as the natural progression from [atopic dermatitis] AD toward the development of respiratory allergy,” Elisabetta Calamelli, MD, research assistant, Pediatric Allergy Unit, University of Bologna, Italy, and colleagues reported. “Although longitudinal studies aimed to identify the possible risk factors for asthma, several aspects of this phenomenon still need to be clarified.”
Elisabetta Calamelli
Ninety-nine children with IgE-mediated AD at the pediatric dermatology and allergology units of Bologna University in Italy were studied. Clinical evaluations and total and specific IgE assay for the most common classes of inhalants and food allergens (grasses, house dust mite, cat dander, cow’s milk and egg white) were conducted twice during pre-school age (mean age, 15 months and 30 months). Tests were conducted intermittently at follow-up (mean age, 10 years). At a follow-up during school age, asthma diagnosis was assessed, with asthma risk determined by univariate and multivariate logistic regression.
Thirty-nine percent of children at follow-up had developed asthma, which was associated with the presence of sensitization to more than one class of inhalant allergens when children were aged 30 months (P<.005). Grass pollen (OR=3.2; 95% CI, 1.2-8.7) and cat sensitization (OR=2.7; 95% CI, 1.1-7.3) were independent risk factors for asthma. Early food allergy sensitization and asthma were not associated.
For more information:
Calamelli E. #123. Presented at: European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology annual congress 2014; June 7-11; Copenhagen, Denmark.
Disclosure: Calamelli reports no relevant financial disclosures.