Pollen food syndrome amongst children with seasonal allergic rhinitis attending allergy clinic.

Background: There is limited information regarding the onset and sensitization patterns of pollen food syndrome (PFS) in children. The aim was to explore this within children referred to a specialist allergy clinic at a London Tertiary Hospital.

Methods: A total of 54 patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) were enrolled in equal numbers in three age groups; 0-5, 6-10, 11-15 years.

Significant, quantifiable differences exist between IgG subclass standards WHO67/97 and ERM-DA470k and can result in different interpretation of results.

Objectives: Accurate measurement of IgG subclass (IgGSc) levels are essential to aid in the diagnosis of disease states such as primary immunodeficiencies. However, there is no single standardisation of nephelometric and turbidimetric assays for these analytes and two reference materials have been utilised. We expand on previous reports and present data from a multi-site analysis that both identifies and quantitatively defines the differences in calibration resulting from the use of different reference materials.