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Skin Prick Testing to Aeroallergen Extracts
International Archives of Allergy and Immunology, 12/01/2011
Exclusive author commentary
Sahiner UM et al. – An skin prick test (SPT) panel covering 12 allergen extracts was sufficient to detect most of the sensitized children and adolescents with recurrent respiratory symptoms. As the patients grow older, a smaller test panel is required compared to the panels used at younger ages.
Bulent Enis Sekerel (12/06/2011) comments:
Skin Prick Testing to Aeroallergen Extracts: What is the Optimal Panel in Children and Adolescents in Turkey?
Most of the studies performed previously concerned the prevalence and distribution of allergens on an epidemiological basis and did not address the issue from the patients’ view. Currently, there is no standard test panel across Europe and United States for children. Furthermore, the optimal number of allergens to be used during the SPT for the diagnosis of sensitized patients that are the least painful and most cost-effective, both of which are important from scientific and economic aspects, remains to be clarified. Even in the current guidelines the offered test panels for children are simply either the extrapolation from adult studies or reflect the expert opinion instead of concerning the objective studies.
The aim of the present study was thus to demonstrate the sensitization patterns among children in different age groups and to define both the number and type of SPT allergens required to identify a child as sensitized. A SPT panel covering12, 8 and 7 allergens was found to be sufficient to identify over 95% of the sensitized preschool children (2-<6 years), school children (6-<12 years) and adolescents (12-<18 years), respectively. This study not only shows that children differ from adults; it also shows that different age groups of childhood show different patterns of sensitization.
Correspondence
Prof Dr Bulent E Sekerel
Hacettepe University School of Medicine
Pediatric Allergy and Asthma Unit
06100 Sihhiye Ankara Turkey
b_sekerel@yahoo.com
90 312 305 1700
