Evaluation of treatment and long-term management of anaphylaxis in pediatric departments of Greece: a 2-year nationwide survey.

Background: Anaphylaxis proportions of incidence are increasing globally. However, limited data are available regarding anaphylaxis in the pediatric population of Greece.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate management of anaphylaxis in Greek pediatric departments.

Household adult smoking behaviors and prevalence of asthma in Greek schoolchildren: five surveys during 1998-2018.

Objective: Environmental tobacco smoke exposure is a well-recognized risk factor for asthma development and poor asthma control in children. However, the relationship between changes in parental smoking habits over time and the prevalence of childhood asthma remains largely unknown. Our objective was to investigate the trends of parental smoking behaviors in relation to childhood wheeze/asthma rates over a 20-year period.

The effect of feeding patterns on serum zonulin levels in infants at 3-4 months of age.

Zonulin so far is the only known endogenous modulator of intercellular tight junctions which regulate the intestinal permeability. Breastfeeding is considered to enhance the integrity of the gastrointestinal tract; however, limited data are available about the effect of feeding patterns on intestinal permeability. We aimed to investigate the potential association between the mode of feeding (breast versus formula milk) and the serum zonulin levels as a marker of intestinal permeability.

Retrospective study identified fish and milk as the main culprits in cases of food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome.

Aim: Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) is a non-immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated food allergy, which is confined to the gastrointestinal tract and occurs most frequently in the first year of life. Our aim was to examine the clinical features, causative agents and outcomes of Greek children with FPIES.

Methods: This was a five-year (2013-2017) retrospective study, based on chart reviews of 78 children with FPIES from six Greek paediatric allergy centres.

Small-airway dysfunction precedes the development of asthma in children with allergic rhinitis.

Background: Epidemiological evidence suggests the existence of a direct link between allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma. Several studies also support the presence of small-airway dysfunction (SAD) in non-asthmatic children with AR. However, it remains unknown whether SAD can predict the progression of AR to asthma.

Cesarean section delivery and development of food allergy and atopic dermatitis in early childhood.

Background: Delivery by Cesarean section (CS) may predispose to allergic disorders, presumably due to alterations in the establishment of normal gut microbiota in early infancy. In this study, we sought to investigate the association between CS and physician-diagnosed food allergy and atopic dermatitis during the first 3 years of life, using data from a homogeneous, population-based, birth cohort.

Methods: A total of 459 children born and cared for in the same tertiary maternity unit were examined at birth and followed up at 1, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months of age.

Food allergen selective thermal processing regimens may change oral tolerance in infancy.

Food allergy can be considered a failure in the induction of oral tolerance. Recently, great interest has been focused on understanding the mechanisms and the contributing factors of oral tolerance development, hoping for new definitive interventions in the prevention and treatment of food allergy. Given that food processing may modify the properties and the nature of dietary proteins, several food processing methods could affect the allergenicity of these proteins and consequently may favour oral tolerance induction to food allergic children.

An uncommon case of pediatric neurobrucellosis associated with intracranial hypertension.

We present the case of a 4-year-old boy who was admitted to hospital with intracranial hypertension, headache, diplopia, papilledema, and a normal brain MRI. Brucella melitensis in the cerebrospinal fluid was confirmed with PCR assay. We believe that neurobrucellosis should be included in the differential diagnosis when headaches persist following brucellosis.

Fish and shellfish allergy in children: review of a persistent food allergy.

The increased consumption of fish and shellfish has resulted in more frequent reports of adverse reactions to seafood, emphasizing the need for more specific diagnosis and treatment of this condition and exploring reasons for the persistence of this allergy. This review discusses interesting and new findings in the area of fish and shellfish allergy. New allergens and important potential cross-reacting allergens have been identified within the fish family and between shellfish, arachnids, and insects.

Increase in chronic or recurrent rhinitis, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema among schoolchildren in Greece: three surveys during 1991-2003.

The prevalence of allergic rhinitis, hay fever and eczema has risen worldwide during the last four decades but may have reached a plateau in some westernized societies. We examined time trends in the prevalence of childhood chronic or recurrent rhinitis, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema in urban Greece. Using identical methodology, three population-based cross-sectional parental questionnaire surveys on current (last two years) and lifetime allergic symptoms of the nose, eyes and skin were performed among 8-10-yr-old children in 1991, 1998 and 2003 in Patras, Greece.

Bronchial hyper-responsiveness in selective IgA deficiency.

Secretory IgA in mucosal secretions has a broad protective function. The insufficient protection provided by the respiratory mucosa in children with selective IgA deficiency (sIgAD) might facilitate the development of bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR) and consequently asthma symptoms. This study was conducted to clarify the prevalence of BHR in sIgAD children and the relationship with atopic status.

Subjective and objective nasal obstruction assessment in children with chronic rhinitis.

Objective: The present study was undertaken, to test the hypothesis that schoolchildren on long-term treatment for chronic rhinitis under-report their nasal congestion.

Methods: Ninety-seven children aged 8.3-15.

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection among healthy children and children hospitalised with pneumonia in Greece.

Chlamydia pneumoniae has been recognized as a cause of respiratory tract infection in humans, and its prevalence has been shown to vary among different age groups and populations. The prevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae antibody was determined by serological investigation in 343 healthy children and in 77 children consecutively hospitalised for pneumonia in southwestern Greece. Seventy-eight (22.

Sterile cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis in young infants with urinary tract infection.

Background: During the first 3 months of life febrile infants are subjected to sepsis workup, which includes evaluation for urinary tract infection (UTI) and meningitis. We investigated the existence of concomitant meningeal inflammation in infants younger than 90 days old affected with UTI.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of all infants younger than 90 days old, who were hospitalized for UTI from January, 1990, to January, 2001.

Prevalence of asthma among schoolchildren in Patras, Greece: three surveys over 20 years.

Background: The aim of the present study was to compare the prevalence of asthma among schoolchildren in 1978, 1991, and 1998 in Patras, Greece.

Methods: The study populations of the three comparable cross sectional surveys comprised third and fourth grade public school children in Patras, Greece. Sample sizes in 1978, 1991, and 1998 were 3735, 2952 and 3397 children and response rates were 80.

Correlation of leucocyte count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate with the day of illness in presumed bacterial pneumonia of childhood.

We investigated the effect of the duration of illness on the white blood cell (WBC) and total neutrophil counts and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in untreated children with clinical and roentgenographic findings compatible with bacterial pneumonia. According to the duration of illness before admission, the patients were divided into: Group I, 48 patients ill for < 24 h; Group II, 39 patients ill for 24-48 h; Group III, 21 patients ill for 48-72 h; and Group IV, eight patients ill for 72-96 h. In children with presumably bacterial pneumonia the number of the WBC was greater during the first 2 days of illness.