Diagnosing new-onset asthma in a paediatric clinical trial setting in school-age children.

Asthma is a common chronic disease in children. It is a dynamic condition-symptoms change over time, and the outcome of diagnostic tests can vary. Consequently, evaluating the onset of asthma at a single point in time, perhaps when patients are asymptomatic with limited impairment of the lung function, may result in false diagnostic conclusions.

Side effects during subcutaneous immunotherapy in children with allergic diseases.

Background: Allergen-specific immunotherapy is the only causal form of therapy for IgE-mediated allergic diseases. Subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) is considered safe and well tolerated in adults, yet there is less evidence of safety in the pediatric population.

Methods: A non-interventional prospective observing longitudinal study was carried out to determine the incidence of local and systemic side effects by SCIT, routinely performed in pediatric patients.

Safety and efficacy in children of an SQ-standardized grass allergen tablet for sublingual immunotherapy.

Background: Immunotherapy with the SQ-standardized grass tablet Grazax is efficacious and well-tolerated in adult patients with rhinoconjunctivitis. Allergic asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis are closely linked, and a strategy combining treatment of the upper and lower airways is recommended.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of treatment with the grass tablet on grass pollen-induced rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma as well as the immunologic response and the safety profile in children.

Safety of specific sublingual immunotherapy with SQ standardized grass allergen tablets in children.

The aim of the study was to confirm the safety of an orodispersible grass allergen tablet 75,000 SQ-T (Grazax, ALK-Abelló A/S, Hørsholm, Denmark) in children aged 5-12 yr. The study was randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled. Sixty children aged 5-12 yr suffering from grass pollen-induced rhinoconjunctivitis (with or without asthma) from five centres in two countries (three in Germany and two in Spain) participated in the study.