Allergic Rhinitis in Preschoolers: A Systematic Review of Diagnostics.

Background: Most studies that seek to analyze the prevalence of allergic rhinitis do not include preschool children and the diagnosis in this age group is difficult.

Objective: Identify complementary tests to the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis in preschool children and verify if there is scientific robustness to propose a diagnostic algorithm for this condition in this age group.

Methods: Systematic review of the literature in four databases: SCIELO, PubMed/MEDLINE, LILACS and SCOPUS.

Comparative analysis of primary and secondary glomerulopathies in the northeast of Brazil: data from the Pernambuco Registry of Glomerulopathies - REPEG.

Introduction: In Brazil, glomerulopathies are the third leading cause of chronic renal disease, accounting for 11% of dialysis patients. Studies on the prevalence of this disease in Northeastern Brazil are scarce.

Objective: The aim was to describe the findings of biopsies and to conduct a comparative analysis on the clinical laboratory presentation of primary glomerulopathies (PG) and secondary glomerulopathies (SG).

Lower prevalence and greater severity of asthma in hot and dry climate.

Objective: To estimate asthma prevalence, severity, and associated factors in adolescents who live in a low relative humidity environment.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, adolescents aged 13-14 years from the city of Petrolina located in the Brazilian semiarid region answered the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire. The possible explanatory variables of the study were gender, family income, mother's education, smokers in the household, parental history of asthma, personal history of allergic rhinitis or atopic dermatitis, and physical activity level.

Asthma in pregnancy: association between the Asthma Control Test and the Global Initiative for Asthma classification and comparisons with spirometry.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify a possible association between the assessment of clinical asthma control using the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) classification and to perform comparisons with values of spirometry.

Study Design: Through this cross-sectional study, 103 pregnant women with asthma were assessed in the period from October 2010 to October 2013 in the asthma pregnancy clinic at the Clinical Hospital of the Federal University of Pernambuco. Questionnaires concerning the level of asthma control were administered using the Global Initiative for Asthma classification, the Asthma Control Test validated for asthmatic expectant mothers and spirometry; all three methods of assessing asthma control were performed during the same visit between the twenty-first and twenty-seventh weeks of pregnancy.

Association of atopic diseases and parvovirus B19 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in childhood and adolescence in the northeast of Brazil.

Background: Several factors related to the immune system, such as a history of allergies and virus infections, may be associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The purpose of this study was to analyze whether the presence of atopic diseases and previous infection with parvovirus B19 and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are associated with the development of ALL.

Methods: This case-control study was performed in two tertiary hospitals located in northeastern Brazil.

Probiotics for the treatment of upper and lower respiratory-tract infections in children: systematic review based on randomized clinical trials.

Objectives: Evaluate the effect of probiotics on the symptoms, duration of disease, and the occurrence of new episodes of upper and lower respiratory infections in healthy children.

Sources: In order to identify eligible randomized controlled trials, two reviewers accessed four electronic databases [MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus (Elsevier), Web of Science, and Cochrane (Cochrane VHL)], as well as ClinicalTrials.gov until January 2015.

Are measurements of peak nasal flow useful for evaluating nasal obstruction in patients with allergic rhinitis?

Background: Nasal obstruction is one of the most bothering allergic rhinitis (AR) symptoms and there is a need for objective parameters to complement clinical evaluation due to blunted perception in many patients. In this study we compare measures of peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) and peak nasal expiratory flow (PNEF) in patients with AR and in individuals without nasal symptoms and correlate them with the perception of nasal obstruction.

Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in 64 AR patients and 67 individuals without nasal symptoms aged between 16 and 50 years.

Evaluation of Th17-related cytokines and IFNγ production from blood mononuclear cells of moderate and severe asthmatic children reveals methylprednisolone does not decrease IL-22 levels.

Objective: The aim of this study was to correlate IL-6, IL-17A, IFNγ, and IL-22 production with asthma disease severity and to evaluate if methylprednisolone downregulated cytokine production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).

Methods: Forty-two children with chronic persistent asthma and 34 non-asthmatic children were selected. Cytokines were quantified by ELISA from serum or PBMCs supernatants, after the PMA and Ionomycin stimulation, with or without methylprednisolone at 100 µM.

Prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases in adolescents: nine-year follow-up study (2003-2012).

Objective: To determine the prevalence of symptoms of asthma, rhinitis, and atopic eczema in adolescents (AD; 13-14 years) living in seven Brazilian cities, by applying the standardized written questionnaire (WQ) of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), and to evaluate the time trend nine years after the last assessment of ISAAC phase 3 (ISP3).

Methods: The ISAAC-WQ was answered by 20,099 AD from the Northern, Northeastern, Southeastern, and Southern Brazilian regions. Values obtained were compared to those observed in ISP3 using nonparametric (chi-squared or Fisher) tests, and the ratio of annual increment/decrement was established for each of the centers, according to the symptom assessed.

Mothers impose physical activity restrictions on their asthmatic children and adolescents: an analytical cross-sectional study.

Background: Physical activities are important for children and adolescents, especially asthmatics. A significant proportion is considered less active than their non-asthmatic peers and mother's beliefs about asthma are thought to be a determinant factor.The research objectives were to investigate whether mothers try to impose limitations on the physical activity (PA) of their asthmatic children/adolescents; identify associated factors; and explore if this attitude has any impact on children's PA levels.

Adverse reactions to foods and food allergy: development and reproducibility of a questionnaire for clinical diagnosis.

Objective. To develop a questionnaire as a screening tool for adverse reactions to foods in children and to assess the technical reproducibility by test-retest. Methods.

Reference values for spirometry in preschool children.

Objectives: Reference values for lung function tests differ in samples from different countries, including values for preschoolers. The main objective of this study was to derive reference values in this population.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted through a questionnaire applied to 425 preschool children aged 3 to 6 years, from schools and day-care centers in a metropolitan city in Brazil.

Epidemiological assessment of neglected diseases in children: lymphatic filariasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis.

Objective: To report the prevalence of lymphatic filariasis and intestinal parasitic infections in school-aged children living in a filariasis endemic area and discuss about the therapeutic regimen adopted in Brazil for the large-scale treatment of filariasis.

Methods: A cross-sectional study including 508 students aged 5-18 years old, enrolled in public schools within the city of Olinda, Pernambuco. The presence of intestinal parasites was analyzed using the Hoffman, Pons and Janer method on 3 stool samples.

Pediatric allergy and immunology in Brazil.

The subspecialty of pediatric allergy and immunology in Brazil is in its early years and progressing steadily. This review highlights the research developed in the past years aiming to show the characteristics of allergic and immunologic diseases in this vast country. Epidemiologic studies demonstrated the high prevalence of asthma in infants, children, and adolescents.

Giardia lamblia and respiratory allergies: a study of children from an urban area with a high incidence of protozoan infections.

Objectives: There is a high incidence of intestinal parasite infection in urban areas in the Northeast of Brazil. Giardia lamblia infections have been associated with increased prevalence of cutaneous allergies and gastrointestinal disorders. However, little is known about the relationship between giardiasis and allergic diseases of the airways.

Adherence rate to beclomethasone dipropionate and the level of asthma control.

There are only a few studies assessing the relationship between adherence rate to ICS, as assessed by electronic monitoring, and the level of asthma control in childhood. The present study was carried out to examine the relationship between adherence to beclomethasone diproprionate (BDP) as well as other factors related to poor asthma control. In this prospective cohort study, 102 steroid naïve randomly selected subjects with persistent asthma, aged 5-14 years were prescribed 500-750 μg daily of BDP-CFC and followed during one year.

Early termination of exhalation: effect on spirometric parameters in healthy preschool children.

Objective: To evaluate the acceptability and reproducibility of spirometry in preschool children; to estimate the effect size of early termination of exhalation (ETE) on FVC, FEV(1) and FEV(0.5); and to evaluate the validity of FEV(0.5) in curves with ETE.

Impact that an educational intervention carried out by community health agents has on environmental conditions in the households of children with asthma.

Objective: To determine the impact that an educational intervention employing problem-solving strategies for the environmental control of aeroallergens has on environmental conditions in the households of children with asthma. The intervention was carried out by community health agents.

Methods: This was a prospective intervention study.

Allergy to cow's milk proteins: what contribution does hypersensitivity in skin tests have to this diagnosis?

Food allergy is an immunologically mediated adverse reaction to food protein. Cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) is the most frequent type and is the one that is most difficult to diagnose. This study had the objective of analyzing the accuracy of hypersensitivity and specific IgE skin tests among children with CMPA and predominantly gastrointestinal clinical manifestations.

Specific IgE Anti-Ascaris in Brazilian Children and Adolescents.

From an article published by our group by Medeiros et al, we discuss and review the literature on the role of serum specific anti-ascaris IgE in patients with respiratory allergies living in countries where helminthic infestations are common. Medeiros et al conducted a study using 101 patients aged 12 to 21 years with respiratory allergy. Median IgE level was 660 IU/mL.

Allergic rhinitis: epidemiological aspects, diagnosis and treatment.

This study was a review of the literature on the epidemiological, clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of allergic rhinitis. Bibliographic searches were based on the information contained within the Medline, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature and HighWire databases, covering the last thirty years and using the following search terms: 'allergic rhinitis', 'epidemiology', 'diagnosis' and 'treatment'. Sixty articles were selected.

Rhinitis, sinusitis and asthma: hard to dissociate?

The objective of this study was to review the literature and to discuss epidemiological and physiopathological aspects and therapeutical implications of an unified approach to allergic rhinosinusitis and asthma. The bibliographic survey was based on the information provided by the following databases: Medline, MD Consult, Highwire, Medscape, LILACS and through direct search over thirty years, using the terms allergic rhinitis and asthma. Fifty-five original articles were selected in the no systematically review addressing the issue of clinical association between allergic rhinusinusitis and asthma.

Total IgE level in respiratory allergy: study of patients at high risk for helminthic infection.

Objective: Eosinophilia and increased serum IgE levels are indicators of atopy; however, other factors can also play a key role, such as intestinal parasitic infections. This study assesses the relationship between total serum IgE, eosinophil count, and anti-Ascaris IgE in individuals with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in adolescents with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis.

Relationship between BCG scar size and asthma in children?

Objective: This case control study was conducted to evaluate any association between the BCG scar size and occurrence of asthma among children between 6-14 years of age.

Methods: Cases consisted of 90 asthmatic children. Control group included 90 non-asthmatic children from the emergency room service of the same hospital.