The differential diagnostic work-up of children with chronic eczema should involve patch testing, also in cases with confirmed atopy. In our previous study, contact allergy was detected in every second child with chronic eczema. The aim of the present study was to identify the most important sensitizers in atopic children with eczema. During an allergy screening program, 103 consecutive children aged 7-8 and 93 adolescents aged 16-17 were enrolled. The inclusion criterion was chronic recurrent eczema as detected with the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire and atopy, defined as positive skin prick test to one or more common airborne or food allergens. The children were patch-tested with the newly extended European Baseline Series (EBS, 28 test substances) supplemented with propolis, thimerosal, benzalkonium chloride, and 2-phenoxyethanol. In total, 67.0% children and 58.1% adolescents were found patch test positive. Among children, 35.9% reacted to nickel, 16.5% propolis, 11.7% thimerosal, 9.7% cobalt, each 6.8% fragrance mix (FM) I and chromium, and 5.8% to FM II. Among adolescents, 37.6% reacted to thimerosal, 19.4% to nickel, 6.5% to cobalt, and 5.4% to propolis. We demonstrate the advantage of using FM II - a new addition to the EBS that detects a relatively high proportion of contact hypersensitivity among children. An important sensitizer from outside EBS is propolis, which according to the frequency of sensitization occupies rank 2 in children and rank 4 in adolescents. These data show that propolis should be included into routine patch testing in children.

Background: Patch testing is an essential procedure in the investigation of eczema in children.

Our data demonstrate that 'ISAAC eczema' is an epidemiological entity that embraces comparable portions of cases of atopic eczema and allergic contact dermatitis, and possibly also other less frequent pruritic dermatoses. Each case of chronic recurrent dermatitis in children requires differential diagnosis aimed at allergic contact dermatitis and inflammatory dermatoses other than atopic eczema, even when predominantly localized in flexural areas.

Our findings suggest an important spatial relationship between the distance from a major roadway and the evaluated respiratory symptoms. The results emphasize the need for more comprehensive air quality policies within urban areas with increased motor vehicle density.

Background: Aspirin desensitization (AD) is an effective and safe therapeutic option for patients with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)-exacerbated respiratory disease (N-ERD). The mechanisms driving its beneficial effects remain poorly understood. Objective: To investigate the effect of long-term AD on clinical, biochemical and radiological changes in N-ERD patients. Methods: The study group consisted of twenty-three individuals with N-ERD who underwent AD, followed by ingestion of 325 mg aspirin twice daily. Twenty patients completed the 52 weeks of AD. The following evaluations were conducted at baseline and in the 52nd week of AD: (i) clinical: asthma exacerbations, Asthma Control Test (ACT), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for the assessment of nasal symptoms; (ii) blood and induced sputum supernatant (ISS) periostin, (iii) phenotypes based on induced sputum (IS) cells, (iiii) ISS and nasal lavage (NL) concentration of prostaglandin D 2 (PGD 2 ), prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ), tetranor-PGD-M, tetranor-PGE-M, 8-iso-PGE 2 , leukotriene B 4 (LTB 4 ), LTC 4 , LTD 4 and LTE 4 , and urine LTE 4 . Results: A significant improvement was observed in ACT (P = 0.02) and VAS score (P = 0.008) in the 52nd week of AD. ISS periostin and IS eosinophil count decreased significantly in the 52nd week of AD (P = 0.04 and P = 0.01, respectively). ISS and NL eicosanoid concentrations did not change following long-term AD. Conclusion: and Clinical Relevance: AD is associated with a decrease in sputum periostin biosynthesis, which may prevent the recruitment of eosinophils into respiratory tissue and be one of explanation of the clinical benefits of AD. Long-term aspirin administration does not lead to an imbalance between pro-and anti-inflammatory ISS eicosanoids.