Climate and Allergic Sensitization to Airborne Allergens in the General Population: Data from the French Six Cities Study.

Background: The results of international epidemiological surveys show large geographical variations in skin test reactivity but do not provide a rationale for such variations.

Objective: To assess the relationship between climate and allergic sensitization in schoolchildren.

Methods: In the present study, we analyzed data from a multicenter, epidemiological survey that included 6,461 schoolchildren, aged 9-11 years, living in 6 French cities scattered around France.

Changes in body mass index during childhood and risk of various asthma phenotypes: a retrospective analysis.

Background: It is known that asthma is related to obesity but also to small birthweight. The objective of this study was to clarify this issue by assessing the putative relationship between the changes in corpulence between birth and childhood as assessed by body mass index (BMI) and asthma phenotypes.

Methods: The following status in corpulence was assessed in 7781 schoolchildren using quartile of BMI at birth and at around 10 (9-11 years): underweight at birth and at around 10, underweight at birth and overweight at around 10, overweight at birth and underweight at around 10, overweight at birth and at around 10, and the reference group constituted by all the other children in whom corpulence changes were not extreme.

Survey on practice of venom immunotherapy in France.

Introduction: Venom immunotherapy (VIT) is the only efficient prevention for sting-induced anaphylaxis, but its application is not without risks and needs precautions and standardization. European guidelines were proposed in 2005, but recent practice surveys and more recent knowledge raise the need for an update. The aim of this study was to analyze VIT practices in France, based on previous surveys in Europe but also extended to outcome event management.

Controlled Emissivity Coatings to Delay Ignition of Polyethylene.

Semi-opaque to opaque films containing small amounts of various aluminium particles to decrease emissivity were easily prepared and coated onto low-density polyethylene (LDPE) sheets. The thermal-radiative properties (reflectivity, transmissivity and absorptivity) of the films were measured and related to the aluminum particles' content, size and nature. Time-to-ignition of samples was assessed using a cone calorimeter at different heat flux values (35, 50 and 75 kW/m²).

Prevalence and association of asthma and allergic sensitization with dietary factors in schoolchildren: data from the french six cities study.

Background: The prevalence of asthma and allergy has recently risen among children. This increase in prevalence might be related to various factors, particularly diet. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and association of asthma and allergic sensitization with dietary factors in the French Six Cities Study.

Correction: Postnatal Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure Related to Behavioral Problems in Children.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Postnatal Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure Related to Behavioral Problems in Children.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between pre and post environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and behavioral problems in schoolchildren.

Methods: In the cross-sectional 6 cities Study conducted in France, 5221 primary school children were investigated. Pre- and postnatal exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke at home was assessed using a parent questionnaire.

Indoor air quality, ventilation and respiratory health in elderly residents living in nursing homes in Europe.

Few data exist on respiratory effects of indoor air quality and comfort parameters in the elderly. In the context of the GERIE study, we investigated for the first time the relationships of these factors to respiratory morbidity among elderly people permanently living in nursing homes in seven European countries. 600 elderly people from 50 nursing homes underwent a medical examination and completed a standardised questionnaire.

The relationships between ambient air pollutants and childhood asthma and eczema are modified by emotion and conduct problems.

Purpose: This study examined the hypothesis that emotion and conduct problems (ECPs) may modify the relationships between ambient air pollutants and childhood asthma and eczema.

Methods: In the cross-sectional study, 4209 French schoolchildren (aged 10e12 years) were investigated between March 1999 and October 2000. Ambient air pollutants exposures were estimated with dispersion modeling.

High body mass index and allergies in schoolchildren: the French six cities study.

Background: The prevalence of allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis is increasing rapidly worldwide, especially among children and in western countries. This coincides with an increase in body mass index (BMI), which might be a major risk factor for atopic diseases.

Objectives: To study the relationship between high BMI and allergic diseases, as well as skin-prick test (SPT) positivity and exercise-induced asthma (EIA) in 6733 randomly selected schoolchildren aged 9-11 years in the French Six Cities Study.

Factors related to under-diagnosis and under-treatment of childhood asthma in metropolitan France.

Background: Under-diagnosis and under-treatment of childhood asthma were investigated in France using data collected during the 6 Cities Study, the French contribution to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood.

Methods: 7,781 schoolchildren aged between 9 and 10 years underwent a medical visit including skin prick tests to common allergens and exercise test for Exercise-Induced Asthma (EIA) and their parents filled in a standardized questionnaire on asthma, management, treatment and potential risk factors.

Results: 903 children reported asthma (11.

Poor air quality in classrooms related to asthma and rhinitis in primary schoolchildren of the French 6 Cities Study.

Background: Relationships between indoor air quality (IAQ) found in schools and the allergic and respiratory health of schoolchildren have been insufficiently explored. A survey was conducted in a large sample of classrooms of primary schools in France to provide objective assessments of IAQ to which young schoolchildren are exposed in classrooms, and to relate exposure to major air pollutants found in classrooms to asthma and allergies of schoolchildren.

Methods: Concentrations of fine particles with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.

Total viable molds and fungal DNA in classrooms and association with respiratory health and pulmonary function of European schoolchildren.

Indoor molds are associated with adverse respiratory effects in children. Although schools are important exposure sources of molds, objective measurements were more often taken in homes. Our aim was to assess indoor molds in schools and related effects on schoolchildren health.

[Long-term exposure to urban air pollution measured through a dispersion model and the risk of asthma and allergy in children].

The impact of chronic urban air pollution on asthma and allergy remains controversial, probably because exposure is difficult to evaluate. In this cross-sectional epidemiological survey of 9- to 11-year-old children living in six French towns, levels of air pollution were estimated by using dispersion models that take into account background air pollution levels along with traffic density, topography and meteorological conditions. We estimated three-year exposure, in the school environment, to benzene, volatile organic compounds, SO2, particles less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10), nitrous oxides (NO2 and NOx) and CO, which are the main urban air pollutants.

Anaphylaxis to dyes during the perioperative period: reports of 14 clinical cases.

Background: Vital dyes are widely used for lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with malignant tumors, and reports of anaphylactic reactions are becoming more frequent.

Objective: Our aims were to describe specific clinical features of hypersensitivity reactions to Patent Blue (Guerbet, Roissy, France), results of the allergy workup, and their consequences for patient management.

Methods: We report a series of 14 clinical cases of dye-induced anaphylaxis recorded between 2004 and 2006 in 4 member centers of a network of French allergoanesthesia outpatient clinics.

Smoking exposure and allergic sensitization in children according to maternal allergies.

Background: Although the negative impact of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on airway diseases in children is well known, the effect of ETS on allergic sensitization is still debated.

Objective: To evaluate how maternal allergies modulate the effect of tobacco exposure on allergic sensitization in childhood.

Methods: Of 9000 children in grades 4 and 5 selected in 6 cities in France, 7798 participated in a survey that consisted of an epidemiologic questionnaire, skin prick testing to common allergens, and skin examination for eczema.

Residential proximity fine particles related to allergic sensitisation and asthma in primary school children.

Background: Fine particulate matter has been linked to allergies by experimental and epidemiological data having used aggregated data or concentrations provided by fixed-site monitoring stations, which may have led to misclassification of individual exposure to air pollution.

Methods: A semi-individual design was employed to relate individual data on asthma and allergy of 5338 school children (10.4 +/- 0.

In utero and childhood exposure to parental tobacco smoke, and allergies in schoolchildren.

Among early-life environmental factors, parental smoking (ETS) has been associated with adverse respiratory outcomes in children. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether parental smoking might lead to asthma and allergies taking into account family history of asthma, personal atopy, breast feeding as confounders and owing pets and day-care during the first 6 months of life as modifiers. About 9000 children of fourth and fifth grade were selected in six cities of France.

Icodextrin-induced peritonitis: study of five cases and comparison with bacterial peritonitis.

Background: An epidemic of aseptic peritonitis related to the presence of peptidoglycan contaminant in some batches of icodextrin solution (Extraneal, Baxter Healthcare Corporation) occurred in Europe in the first six months of 2002.

Methods: By case-control study we examined the clinical and biologic features of 5 patients with icodextrin-induced peritonitis (group AP) and compared them with 7 patients with bacterial peritonitis (group BP) recruited in our clinical center between January and June 2002.

Results: Diagnosis of icodextrin-induced peritonitis was confirmed in all cases by a positive reintroduction test with contaminated batches of icodextrin.