Sensitisation to staphylococcal enterotoxins and asthma severity: a longitudinal study in the EGEA cohort.

Introduction: Evidence is accumulating that plays an important role as disease modifier in upper and lower airway diseases. Sensitisation to enterotoxins (SEs) was associated with an increased risk of severe asthma in previous cross-sectional studies, but evidence from longitudinal studies is lacking. We aimed to assess associations between SE-sensitisation and the subsequent risk for asthma severity and exacerbations.

Contribution of repeated infections in asthma persistence from preschool to school age: Design and characteristics of the PreDicta cohort.

Background: The PreDicta cohort was designed to prospectively evaluate wheeze/asthma persistence in preschoolers in association with viral/microbial exposures and immunological responses. We present the cohort design and demographic/disease characteristics and evaluate unsupervised and predefined phenotypic subgroups at inclusion.

Methods: PreDicta is a 2-year prospective study conducted in five European regions, including children 4-6 years with a diagnosis of asthma as cases and healthy age-matched controls.

Is immunoglobulin E to Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins associated with asthma at 20 years?

Background: In adults, subjects sensitized to Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins (SE) seem to have an increased risk of asthma, whereas this association is less clear in childhood and adolescence. The primary aim of the present analysis was to examine the association between sensitization to SE and asthma at the age of 20 years.

Methods: The German Multicentre Allergy Study recruited 1314 healthy newborns in 1990.