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. 2006 Oct;149(4):505-11.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2006.06.035.

High prevalence of aeroallergen sensitization among infants of atopic parents

Grace K LeMasters  1 , Kimberly Wilson, Linda Levin, Jocelyn Biagini, Patrick Ryan, James E Lockey, Sherry Stanforth, Stephanie Maier, Jun Yang, Jeff Burkle, Manuel Villareal, Gurjit K Khurana Hershey, David I Bernstein
Affiliations

High prevalence of aeroallergen sensitization among infants of atopic parents

Grace K LeMasters et al. J Pediatr. 2006 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To present methodology to identify atopic parents and determine the prevalence of sensitization to 15 aeroallergens in their infant offspring.

Study design: A birth cohort of infants was identified from birth records; an infant was enrolled if 1 of the parents reported allergy respiratory symptoms and had a positive skin prick test (SPT) to a common aeroallergen. At age 1 year, these infants were tested to the same aeroallergens.

Results: Of the 680 enrolled infants, 28.4% were SPT+ to 1 or more aeroallergens and/or food, and 18.0% were positive to 1 or more aeroallergens. By category of allergens, 9.7% were sensitized to pollens, 7.5% to molds, 4.3% to house dust mite and/or cockroach, and 3.4% to dog and/or cat. Of the infants who were positive to an aeroallergen, 65.7% remained positive at age 2 years.

Conclusions: Infants born to atopic parents with percutaneous sensitization to aeroallergens are at increased risk for aeroallergen sensitization during infancy, which persists to age 2 years. These findings suggest that current clinical practices, which generally avoid skin testing before age 2 years, be reassessed in this population of high-risk children.

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Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors has any conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Positive predictive value, sensitivity, and specificity of parent allergy symptoms compared with positive SPT.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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