Antibody response to pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine in Down syndrome patients

The majority of children with Down syndrome (DS) tend to have frequent bacterial infections including recurrent respiratory infections. Our objective was to evaluate the production of antibodies to pneumococcal polysaccharide antigens after active immunization in DS subjects. IgG antibodies to pneumococcal serotypes (1, 3, 6B, 9V, and 14) were measured before and 6 weeks after immunization with a 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine (Pneumo23®, Pasteur-Merrieux) in 6- to 13-year-old DS children (N = 17) and in aged-matched normal controls (N = 30). An adequate response was defined as a 4-fold increase over baseline or a post-immunization level of specific pneumococcal serotype antibody > or = 1.3 µg/mL. After immunization, all DS children had an increase in post-immunization levels against all serotypes analyzed. A 4-fold or more increase was observed in all DS children concerning serotypes 1 and 14, in 90% of subjects for serotypes 3 and 9V, and in 65% for serotype 6B. Regarding this increase, 8 of the 17 DS children had an adequate response to all serotypes analyzed, 8/17 patients to 4 serotypes and 1/17 to 3 serotypes. However, when we compared post-immunization levels between DS children and controls, we observed lower levels in the former group (P < 0.05) for all serotypes except serotype 3. We conclude that pneumococcal polysaccharide immunization could be beneficial for these DS children

IgE antibody responses in young children with atopic dermatitis

In 2184 young children aged 13-24 months with atopic dermatitis (SCORAD 5-59) serum IgE antibodies to a standard panel of food and inhalant allergens were assayed. The frequency of positive IgE responses (>0.35 kU/l) increased with greater severity of skin disease. A significant minority of infants had levels of IgE antibody to foods to suggest they were at risk of acute reaction to those foods (7% to hen's egg, 3% to cow's milk, 4% to peanut). Our findings indicate that the frequency of positive IgE responses is related to disease severity and suggest that differences in the time course of the development of IgE responses to food, which are at maximum prevalence within the first year of life, while inhalant allergies, are still developing between 1 and 2 yr and beyon

Prevention of allergy and asthma: interim report

The prevalence of asthma and allergy is increasing. It is estimated that over 40% of the world population is atopic. Asthma occurs in around 10-15% in the paediatric population and is estimated to affect between 100 and 150 million people worldwide, placing an enormous strain on health resources in many countries. Asthma is a major cause of hospitalisations for chronic diseases in children in the western world. A strategy is needed to prevent this increased prevalence of allergy, which is a major cause of asthma (often labelled as a ``non-infectious epidemic''). Over 2 years ago IAACI recognised the need for a global organisation taking responsibility for exchange of science and education in allergy. The name of the Association will be changed to World Allergy Organisation (WAO) after the IAACI Congress in Sydney in October 2000. Since chronic respiratory disease (including asthma) will be one of four major noncommunicable diseases of immediate focus for WHO, WHO invited IAACI-WAO to participate in this collaborative project. WHO/IAACI-WAO created a working group consisting of six ``Chapter Chairpersons'', each with coauthors and a meeting of the group took place on 5 and 6 December 1999 in WHO head