National Survey of United Kingdom Paediatric Allergy Services.

Background: Comprehensive national assessments of paediatric allergy services are rarely undertaken, and have never been undertaken in the United Kingdom. A 2006 survey estimated national capacity at 30,000 adult or paediatric new allergy appointments per year and identified 58 hospital clinics offering a paediatric allergy service.

Objective: The UK Paediatric Allergy Services Survey was the first comprehensive assessment of UK paediatric allergy service provision.

Recurrence of eosinophilic oesophagitis with subcutaneous grass pollen immunotherapy.

Case reports have described an association between oral food/aeroallergen immunotherapy with the development of eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE). The underlying mechanism of this is poorly understood, as is the role that both food/aeroallergen sensitisation plays in the pathogenesis of EoE. Specific immunotherapy has a long-standing history of use in the management of moderate/severe seasonal allergic rhinitis (AR), caused by tree/grass pollens.

Targeted empiric antibiotic therapy for children with non-oncological comorbidities and community-onset invasive bacterial infections.

Objectives: To describe the aetiology, risk factors, treatment and outcome of children with community-onset invasive bacterial infections (IBI) and determine the appropriateness of the nationally recommended empiric antibiotic therapy in children with non-oncological comorbidities.

Method: The CABIN network prospectively collected clinical information for all positive blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures in children aged 1 month to 15 years in southwest London over three years.

Results: During 2009-11, 119 healthy children each had a single IBI episode and 61 children with non-oncological comorbidities had 83 IBI episodes.

Very low rates of culture-confirmed invasive bacterial infections in a prospective 3-year population-based surveillance in Southwest London.

Objectives: To estimate the incidence, clinical characteristics and risk factors for culture-confirmed invasive bacterial infections in England.

Design: Prospective, observational, study of all children with positive blood and/or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture over a 3-year period (2009-2011).

Setting: All five hospitals within a geographically defined region in southwest London providing care for around 600 000 paediatric residents.