Phenotyping asthma, rhinitis and eczema in MeDALL population‐based birth cohorts: an allergic comorbidity cluster

Abstract

Phenotyping asthma, rhinitis and eczema in MeDALL population-based birth cohorts: an allergic comorbidity cluster. Allergy 2015; 70: 973-984. AbstractBackground: Asthma, rhinitis and eczema often co-occur in children, but their interrelationships at the population level have been poorly addressed. We assessed co-occurrence of childhood asthma, rhinitis and eczema using unsupervised statistical techniques. Methods: We included 17 209 children at 4 years and 14 585 at 8 years from seven European population-based birth cohorts (MeDALL project). At each age period, children were grouped, using partitioning cluster analysis, according to the distribution of 23 variables covering symptoms 'ever' and 'in the last 12 months', doctor diagnosis, age of onset and treatments of asthma, rhinitis and eczema; immunoglobulin E sensitization; weight; and height. We tested the Allergy 70 (2015) 973-984

Probiotics for prevention of atopic diseases in infants: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…In all the studies, infants were considered as 'high risk' if they had one or more family members with eczema, asthma, gastrointestinal allergy, allergic urticaria or allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. Atopic dermatitis and eczema were diagnosed and defined as a pruritic, chronic or chronically relapsing noninfectious dermatitis with typical features and distribution (34). Clinical diagnosis of asthma, wheezing and rhinoconjunctivitis was made according to international guidelines.…”

“…Wheeze was defined as an episode with obstructive airway symptoms. Asthma was defined as a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways, usually associated with airway hyper-responsiveness and variable airflow obstruction, that is often reversible spontaneously or under treatment (34)(35)(36), needed to be doctor diagnosed through clinical symptoms and/or medication during the last 12 months and/or wheeze or nocturnal cough and a positive reversibility test and/or pathological Fraction of Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FENO) value. Asthma is often associated with rhinitis, an inflammation of the nasal mucosa and/or conjunctivitis, an inflammation of the conjunctiva (37).…”

“…Asthma is often associated with rhinitis, an inflammation of the nasal mucosa and/or conjunctivitis, an inflammation of the conjunctiva (37). The diagnosis of rhinoconjunctivitis was based on standard ISAAC question and required the presence of itchy watery eyes and problem with sneezing or a runny or a blocked nose at least twice in contact with the same allergen and no signs of infection (34,38). The outcomes reported in the studies included in meta-analysis were evaluated using a combination of questionnaires compiled by parents, follow-up visits by nurses and doctors, structured interview related to symptoms of allergic disease, physical examination, spirometry and skin prick tests.…”

Computational analysis of multimorbidity between asthma, eczema and rhinitis

“…Children, in particular, frequently present concomitant or consecutive diseases [2,3], something that we refer to as allergic multimorbidity. The MeDALL (Mechanisms of the Development of Allergy) study [4], including both canonical epidemiological methods [5] and unsupervised cluster analysis [6], has shown that coexistence of asthma, eczema and rhinitis in the same child is more common than expected by chance alone, supporting the existence of a multimorbidity cluster. Although IgE sensitization is independently associated with excess multimorbidity of asthma, eczema and rhinitis, its presence accounted only for 38% of multimorbidity [5], suggesting that both IgE and non-IgE mechanisms are involved in the multimorbidity of these diseases [5,6].…”

Asthma and lung cancer, after accounting for co-occurring respiratory diseases and allergic conditions: a systematic review protocol

“…In children with asthma, co-occurrence with rhinitis and/or atopic dermatitis has been reported to be as high as ∼44% 16. There is mixed evidence of the nature of the relationship between asthma and allergic conditions, with evidence of both a causal relationship17 18 and common causes,19 including subsets of genes 20…”