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Allergic children have more numerous and severe respiratory infections than non‐allergic children
Author(s) -
Ciprandi Giorgio,
Tosca Maria Angela,
Fasce Lilia
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
pediatric allergy and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.269
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1399-3038
pISSN - 0905-6157
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3038.2006.00413.x
Subject(s) - medicine , allergic asthma , allergic conjunctivitis , respiratory system , allergy , allergic inflammation , immunology , asthma , pediatrics
Allergic disorders are characterized by Th2‐polarization, and hence physiological Th1‐dependent mechanisms for fighting respiratory infections (RI) may be defective. This study aimed at evaluating the number and duration of RI in allergic and non‐allergic children suffering from recurrent RI. One hundred seventeen children (4.02 ± 1.0 yr, 72 males and 45 females) were studied during the spring, 46 were allergic. Allergic children showed a significantly higher number (mean 1.26 ± 0.73) and longer duration of RI (8.92 days) in comparison with non‐allergic group (0.94 ± 1.37 and 4.85 days) (p = 0.0001 and p = 0.009, respectively). In conclusion, this study provides the evidence that allergic children have more numerous and severe RI than non‐allergic children.