Urticaria

Urtica ria is divided in acute a nd chronic urticaria. Chronic urticaria la sts at least six weeks. Among this symptom one can separate at least the ph ysical urticaria, urticaria with in tolerance to aspirin or food additives, autoimmune urticaria beside chronic idiopathic urticaria. In children urtic aria seems not to be as often as in adults,especially with regard to chroni c urticaria. A frequency of about 5% of ail urticaria patients is assumed t o be younger than 16 years. About 7 % of these patients are suffering from cold urticaria. Major progress in the understanding of the pathophysiology of urticaria has been achieved in recent years. Most important was the recognition of anti- Fc epsilon RI alpha autoantibodies in about 30% of patients with chronic ur ticaria. The first line drug for the treatment of most cases of urticaria are the an tihistamines, demonstranting, that histamine is a major inflammatory compou nd which mediates urticaria. The development of antihistamines of the ,,3rd generation" such as ceterezine, fexofenadine, or levoceterezine provides u s with safe drugs in this condition in which a longterm treatment may be ne eded.