WEDNESDAY, Nov. 8 (HealthDay News) -- While most children eventually outgrow atopic dermatitis, children with an early sensitivity to eggs are more likely to have persistent atopic dermatitis than those with other types of allergy, researchers report in the November issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. What's more, such children are also at greater risk of developing asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis by adolescence or young adulthood.
Giampaolo Ricci, M.D., of the University of Bologna in Italy, and colleagues conducted a study of 205 children (104 boys and 101 girls) aged between 6 months and 36 months who presented with atopic dermatitis and were re-examined between 13 and 22 years after their initial clinical examination.
In 60.5 percent of cases, atopic dermatitis had completely disappeared, usually by 6 years of age. In terms of other conditions, 70 of the cases (34.1 percent) had asthma and 118 cases (57.6 percent) had rhinoconjunctivitis. It took longer for severe cases to recover compared with mild or moderate cases. Children who were sensitive to eggs were more likely to have asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis, and also took longer to recover than those without egg sensitivity.
"Early sensitization to egg appears to constitute a target for evolution into inhalant allergic diseases. The observation of a relationship between egg sensitization with the subsequent appearance of allergic diseases (asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis) indicates that this group of children is particularly at risk and could be included in a preventive intervention program," the authors conclude.
Abstract
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