Prevalence of immunoglobulin E for fungi in atopic children

Background The prevalence of sensitization to fungi in young atopic patient s in relation to age and clinical importance is largely unknown. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of sensit ization to different fungi in atopic children in relation to age and other aeroallergens. Methods A total of 137 atopic children (male 62%, female 38%; mean age 5 ye ars and 9 months, range 5 months-14 years) were studied. Sera of all patien ts were routinely tested for total IgE and specific IgE against aeroallerge ns and milk. Positive sera were also tested for IgE against Alternaria alte rnata, Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium herbarum and Penicillium chrysog enum, using the Pharmacia Enzyme CAP procedure. Results In this. study in atopic children total IgE showed a significant li near relation with age, whereas specific IgE against outdoor fungi, indoor fungi and house dust mite showed significant non linearity with age. Preval ence of specific IgE for Cladosporium ranked first, followed closely by Asp ergillus and Alternaria. Calculation of the sensitization of indoor and out door fungi showed maximum prevalence at 7.8 years, followed by lower values at higher ages. A similar significant relation was also found for Alternar ia, while this relation was not significant for the other individual fungi. Specific IgE for indoor a nd outdoor fungi was associated with the presenc e of specific IgE for aeroallergen and milk. We found that all children age d 4 years and older showed IgE for house dust mite that (lid not decline wi th increasing age. Conclusions Sensitization to fungi is prevalent in childhood, with an age-d ependent distribution reaching maximum values at 7.7-7.8 years, followed by a decline for all fungal sensitization with increasing age. The importance and relative contribution of fungal sensitization to airway disease, compa red with the other allergens, remains to be established.