ROLE OF THE EARLY ALLERGENIC ENVIRONMENT IN REAGINIC SENSITIZATION - PRIMARY QUANTIFICATION AND PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES FOR PREVENTION

OBJECTIVES: The role of the allergenic environment during the first we eks of life in IgE dependent allergy is well known. Unfortunately this role has not been quantified, perhaps explaining why practitioners ha ve been so weakly involved in primary prevention of allergy METHODS: I n this study, we compared the level of RAST g6 (specific IgE against t imothy grass pollen, a strictly seasonal allergen) and the date of bir th in 5233 children and adolesents under the age of 18 years. We made a mathematical correction for any bias due to difference of distributi on from one month to another for some parameters (age, sex, personal a nd family history). RESULTS: We obtained a correlation curve between t he month of birth and the risk of having specific anti-timothy grass p ollen IgE in the serum, confirming and quantifying the role of early p ost-natal environment CONCLUSION: It is hoped that these results will encourage practitioners to be more highly involved in neonatal primary prevention, especially for severe forms of allergy such as those caus ed by housedust mites, pets or molds. (C) 1998, Masson, Paris.