Persistent pollen exposure during infancy is associated with increased risk of subsequent childhood asthma and hayfever

Erbas, Bircan; Lowe, Adrian J.; Lodge, Caroline; Matheson, Melanie C.; Hosking, C. S.; Hill, David; Vicendese, Don; Allen, Katrina J.; Abramson, Michael J.; Dharmage, Shyamali C.

doi:10.1111/cea.12071

Cited by 44 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It is important to note that current aeroallergen research has identified the emerging importance of the roles of gender and age when investigating interactions and respiratory health outcomes (52,53). There is growing evidence of an increased risk of aeroallergen sensitization in infants with subsequent asthma and hay fever in later childhood (54). This review did not identify any studies that reported this perspective in their analysis when examining the role of outdoor fungal spores on child asthma exacerbations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Outdoor fungi and child asthma health service attendances

Tham

Dharmage

Taylor

et al. 2014

Pediatric Allergy Immunology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Asthma is a significant global public health issue. Severe asthma exacerbations can be triggered by environmental factors and require medical care from health services. Although it is known that fungal exposure may lead to allergic sensitization, little is understood about its impact on asthma exacerbations. This review aims to examine whether outdoor fungi play a significant role in child asthma exacerbations. Systematic search of seven electronic databases and hand searching for peer-reviewed studies published in English, up to 31 August 2013. Inclusion criteria were study population aged <18 yr, diagnosis of asthma, attended a health service; outdoor fungi exposure was reported. Quality and risk of bias assessments were conducted. Due to significant heterogeneity, meta-analysis was not conducted. Of the 1896 articles found, 15 were eligible. Findings were not consistent, possibly due to methodological variations in exposure classifications, statistical methods and inclusion of confounders. Cross-sectional studies found no or weak associations. All but one time series studies indicated an association that varied between fungal species. Increasing evidence indicates that asthmatic children are susceptible to asthma exacerbations when exposed to outdoor fungal spores. There is limited understanding of the contributions of different fungal species. Research is needed to investigate interactions of outdoor fungi with pollen, air pollutants and respiratory viruses.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Outdoor fungi and child asthma health service attendances

Tham

Dharmage

Taylor

et al. 2014

Pediatric Allergy Immunology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…MSD provided additional independent untied co-sponsorship for the Working Group. The authors wish to thank the staff of ACEAS, TERN for assistance in organising Workshops 1 and 2 of the Working Group "Understanding Australian aerobiology to monitor environmental change and human allergenic exposure", North Stradbroke Island, Australia (11)(12)(13)(14)(15) March and 4-8 November 2013 respectively). Alison Jaggard has been assisted by the New South Wales Government through its Environmental Trust (project reference number 2011/ RD/0049).…”

Section: Acknowledgementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[11][12] Environmental exposure to pollen can directly affect patient symptoms of allergic respiratory disease including allergic rhinitis and asthma, and indeed the initial development of these diseases. 13 For example, increases in the atmospheric concentration of grass pollen have been associated with significant increases in hospital emergency department visits and admissions for asthma. [14][15] Grass pollen and associated cytoplasmic fragments are now widely considered as the major causative allergen in Australian thunderstorm asthma epidemics.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in grass pollen allergen exposure across Australia

Beggs

Katelaris

Medek

et al. 2015

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective Allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma are important chronic diseases posing serious public health issues in Australia with associated medical, economic, and societal burdens. Pollen are significant sources of clinically relevant outdoor aeroallergens, recognised as both a major trigger for, and cause of, allergic respiratory diseases. This study aimed to provide a national, and indeed international, perspective on the state of Australian pollen data using a large representative sample. Methods Atmospheric grass pollen concentration is examined over a number of years within the period 1995 to 2013 for Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, and Sydney, including determination of the ‘clinical’ grass pollen season and grass pollen peak. Results The results of this study describe, for the first time, a striking spatial and temporal variability in grass pollen seasons in Australia, with important implications for clinicians and public health professionals, and the Australian grass pollen-allergic community. Conclusions These results demonstrate that static pollen calendars are of limited utility and in some cases misleading. This study also highlights significant deficiencies and limitations in the existing Australian pollen monitoring and data. Implications Establishment of an Australian national pollen monitoring network would help facilitate advances in the clinical and public health management of the millions of Australians with asthma and allergic rhinitis.

show abstract

“…Exposure to pollens in early life may contribute to allergic sensitization to grasses and to the development of asthma. The association of month of birth (a proxy for pollen exposure) with subsequent asthma and rhinitis has been explored in the past, but the Melbourne Atopy Cohort Study (MACS) – a high‐risk cohort study – based early life exposure to average daily pollen counts . Higher pollen exposure during the first 3 months was associated with an increased risk of sensitization by 2 years of age, and increased hay fever by age of 6 years.…”

Section: Epidemiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Developments in the field of allergy in 2013 through the eyes of Clinical and Experimental Allergy

Blankestijn

Boyle

Gore

et al. 2014

Clin Experimental Allergy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary 2013 was another exciting year for allergy in general and Clinical and Experimental Allergy in particular. In the field of asthma and rhinitis, there continued to be a focus on heterogeneity and phenotypes with increasing use of biostatistical techniques to determine clusters of similar populations. Obesity‐ and aspirin‐associated disease are intriguing associations with asthma which were explored in a number of papers. We published a number of excellent papers on mechanisms of airway inflammation and how this relates to physiology, pathology, genetics and biomarkers in both human and experimental model systems. In terms of mechanisms, there is less on individual cell types in allergic disease at the moment, but the immunology of allergic disease continued to fascinate our authors. Another area that was popular both in the mechanisms and in the epidemiology sections was early life events and how these lead to allergic disease, with an increasing focus on the role of the microbiome and how this influences immune tolerance. In the clinical allergy section, oral immunotherapy for food allergy is clearly a major topic of interest at the moment as was in vitro testing to distinguish between sensitization and allergic disease. There was less on inhalant allergy this year, but a good representation from the drug allergy community including some interesting work on non‐IgE‐mediated mechanisms. In the allergen section, important new allergens continue to be discovered, but the major focus as in the last couple of years was on working out how component‐resolved approaches can improve diagnosis and management of food and venom allergy.

show abstract

Persistent pollen exposure during infancy is associated with increased risk of subsequent childhood asthma and hayfever

Abstract: Persistent pollen exposure in infancy appears to increase the risk of asthma and hayfever in children. These results support the hypothesis that there is a critical window of opportunity in early development which may be important for modification of allergic outcomes.

Cited by 44 publications

References 25 publications

Outdoor fungi and child asthma health service attendances

Outdoor fungi and child asthma health service attendances

Differences in grass pollen allergen exposure across Australia

Developments in the field of allergy in 2013 through the eyes of Clinical and Experimental Allergy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About