Allergology and Immunology

Association of exposure to hydrocarbon air pollution with the incidence of atopic dermatitis in children

There is growing evidence suggesting that air pollution may act as an important environmental risk factor in the development and aggravation of childhood atopic dermatitis (AD).

Authors: Chieh Wang, Chang-Ching Wei, Lei Wan, Cheng-Li Lin and Jeng-Dau Tsai

Epidemiology and prevention of respiratory syncytial virus infections in children in Italy

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading global cause of respiratory infections in infants and the second most frequent cause of death during the first year of life. This highly contagious seasonal vir...

Authors: Chiara Azzari, Eugenio Baraldi, Paolo Bonanni, Elena Bozzola, Alessandra Coscia, Marcello Lanari, Paolo Manzoni, Teresa Mazzone, Fabrizio Sandri, Giovanni Checcucci Lisi, Salvatore Parisi, Giorgio Piacentini and Fabio Mosca

Long term treatment with omalizumab in adolescent with refractory solar urticaria

Solar urticaria represents an uncomfortable form of chronic inducible urticaria. First and second-line treatments are ineffective in some patients, leading to an impairment in their quality of life. Omalizumab...

Authors: Mauro Iannelli, Stefano Passanisi, Giuseppe Crisafulli, Stefania Arasi, Lucia Caminiti, Giuseppina Zirilli and Giovanni B. Pajno

Pediatric health care professionals’ vaccine knowledge, awareness and attitude: a survey within the Italian Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology

Physicians play a key role in driving vaccine acceptance and their recommendations are crucial to address vaccine hesitancy. The aim of the study was to assess knowledge, awareness and attitude of Italian Pedi...

Authors: Elisabetta Del Duca, Loredana Chini, Simona Graziani, Mayla Sgrulletti and Viviana Moschese

TLR2 deficiency promotes IgE and inhibits IgG1 class-switching following ovalbumin sensitization

To explore the roles of Toll-like receptor (TLR)2 in Th2 cytokine production and immunoglobulin (Ig) class switching following ovalbumin (OVA) sensitization.

Authors: Yuqin Li, Qiu Chen, Wei Ji, Yujie Fan, Li Huang, Chu Chu and Weifang Zhou

Tolerability of a new amino acid-based formula for children with IgE-mediated cow’s milk allergy

Amino acid-based formula (AAF) is a relevant dietary strategy for paediatric patients affected by cow’s milk allergy (CMA). The present study was designed to evaluate the hypoallergenicity of a new AAF in chil...

Authors: Rita Nocerino, Carmen Di Scala, Serena Coppola, Veronica Giglio, Laura Carucci, Linda Cosenza, Luana Voto, Anna Maria Iannicelli, Anna Luzzetti and Roberto Berni Canani

Vernal keratoconjunctivitis in twins: case report and literature review

Authors: Maria Cristina Artesani, Mariacristina Esposito, Maurizio Mennini, Marco Andreani, Franco Locatelli, Luca Buzzonetti and Alessandro Fiocchi

Safety of house dust mite subcutaneous immunotherapy in preschool children with respiratory allergic diseases

Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is the only causal therapy for IgE-mediated allergy. There is less evidence about the safety and efficacy of AIT especially subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) in children under 5 ye...

Authors: Yaqi Yang, Dongxia Ma, Nan Huang, Wenjing Li, Qing Jiang, Yin Wang, Xiaolong Wang, Lin Yang and Rongfei Zhu

Kawasaki disease recurrence in the COVID-19 era: a systematic review of the literature

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a vasculitis of unknown origin of small and medium caliber blood vessels, especially involving coronary arteries and is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in childhood in deve...

Authors: Alice Annalisa Medaglia, Lucia Siracusa, Claudia Gioè, Salvatore Giordano, Antonio Cascio and Claudia Colomba

Assessing patients’ characteristics and treatment patterns among children with atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common immune-mediated skin disease in childhood. Several treatment options for pediatric AD, both topical and systemic, are currently available. We carried out a single-cent...

Authors: Davide Geat, Mattia Giovannini, Gabriele Barlocco, Riccardo Pertile, Manuela Pace, Francesca Mori, Elio Novembre, Giampiero Girolomoni, Mario Cristofolini and Ermanno Baldo

Characteristics associated with clinical response to Comano thermal spring water balneotherapy in pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis

Several studies have investigated the efficacy of balneotherapy in atopic dermatitis (AD), including a pediatric open randomized clinical trial conducted at the Comano thermal spring water center, which showed...

Authors: Davide Geat, Mattia Giovannini, Ezio Gabriele Barlocco, Riccardo Pertile, Stefania Farina, Manuela Pace, Cesare Filippeschi, Giampiero Girolomoni, Mario Cristofolini and Ermanno Baldo

Young child with painful edema and purpura: a case report

We reported the case of a two-old-year boy with a painful acute hemorrhagic edema. This is a self-limited benign condition: usually, affected children are well appearing and this strongly support the diagnosis...

Authors: Sarah Contorno, Giorgio Cozzi, Irene Berti, Egidio Barbi and Andrea Taddio

Impact of a diagnostic therapeutic educational pathway program for asthma management in preschool children

Preschool children with clinically-diagnosed asthma have a higher rate of emergency department visits and consume more resources for management than older children. However, no clinical trials have yet been pe...

Authors: Sebastiano Guarnaccia, Cristina Quecchia, Andrea Festa, Michele Magoni, Giuseppe Zenoni, Emanuele D’Agata, Valentina Brivio, Elena Zanardini, Carmelo Scarcella, Valeria Gretter, Susanna Facchetti, Cinzia Gasparotti, Ada Pluda, Malica Frassine, Rosa Maria Limina, Raffaele Spiazzi…

Inhaled corticosteroids use in childhood respiratory diseases: an italian survey on pediatricians’ prescription habits

A national consensus document on inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) use in childhood, produced by the main Italian pediatric scientific societies, has been recently released. The aim of this study was to gather inf...

Authors: Giovanni Cerimoniale, Paolo Becherucci, Maria Carmen Verga, Giuseppe Di Mauro, Luciana Indinnimeo, Alberto Villani, Mariangela Tosca, Gian Luigi Marseglia, Marzia Duse, Paolo Biasci, Mattia Doria, Diego Peroni, Giorgio Piacentini, Maria Di Cicco, Gabriella Pozzobon and Riccardo Lubrano

Could nutritional supplements act as therapeutic adjuvants in COVID-19?

The role of the immune system and inflammatory response in the pathogenesis of the severe manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is well known. Currently, different therapies active on the immun...

Authors: Giorgio Costagliola, Erika Spada, Pasquale Comberiati and Diego G. Peroni

Cross-sectional survey on impact of paediatric COVID-19 among Italian paediatricians: report from the SIAIP rhino-sinusitis and conjunctivitis committee

There is ample evidence that COVID-19 is significantly less severe in children than in adults and asthma and allergy, the most common chronic disorders in children, are not included in the top 10 comorbidities...

Authors: Lucia Diaferio, Giuseppe Fabio Parisi, Giulia Brindisi, Cristiana Indolfi, Giuseppe Marchese, Daniele Giovanni Ghiglioni, Anna Maria Zicari, Gian Luigi Marseglia and Michele Miraglia del Giudice

FPIES in exclusively breastfed infants: two case reports and review of the literature

Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES) is a non IgE-mediated food allergy that generally affects children in the first year of life. Usually symptoms break out when formula milk or solid foods are...

Authors: Francesco Baldo, Martina Bevacqua, Cristiana Corrado, Daniela Nisticò, Laura Cesca, Valentina Declich, Roberto Dall’Amico and Egidio Barbi

Platelet concentrate and type II IL-1 receptor are risk factors for allergic transfusion reactions in children

Allergic transfusion reactions (ATRs) are immunological reactions after transfusion. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a critical regulator for human diseases. We performed this study to investigate the association of t...

Authors: Wenjing Hu, Li Feng, Meng Li, Ting Li, Yudong Dai and Xiaowei Wang

Digital technologies for an improved management of respiratory allergic diseases: 10 years of clinical studies using an online platform for patients and physicians

Digital health technologies carry the great potential of assisting physicians in making well-informed diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. In allergy care, electronic clinical diaries have been recently used ...

Authors: Salvatore Tripodi, Andrea Giannone, Ifigenia Sfika, Simone Pelosi, Stephanie Dramburg, Annamaria Bianchi, Antonio Pizzulli, Jakob Florack, Valeria Villella, Ekaterina Potapova and Paolo Maria Matricardi

Probiotics’ efficacy in paediatric diseases: which is the evidence? A critical review on behalf of the Italian Society of Pediatrics

During the last decade several paediatric studies have been published with different possible indications for probiotics, leading to a global increase of probiotics’ market. Nevertheless, different study desig...

Authors: Massimo Martinelli, Giuseppe Banderali, Marisa Bobbio, Elisa Civardi, Alberto Chiara, Sofia D’Elios, Andrea Lo Vecchio, Mattia Olivero, Diego Peroni, Claudio Romano, Mauro Stronati, Renato Turra, Irene Viola, Annamaria Staiano and Alberto Villani

Efficacy of Pidotimod use in treating allergic rhinitis in a pediatric population

Allergic rhinitis (AR) and adenoidal hypertrophy (AH) are the most frequent causative disorders of nasal obstruction in children, leading to recurrent respiratory infections. Both nasal cavities are colonized ...

Authors: Giulia Brindisi, Anna Maria Zicari, Laura Schiavi, Alessandra Gori, Maria Pia Conte, Massimiliano Marazzato, Giovanna De Castro, Lucia Leonardi and Marzia Duse

Consensus statement of the Italian society of pediatric allergy and immunology for the pragmatic management of children and adolescents with allergic or immunological diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has surprised the entire population. The world has had to face an unprecedented pandemic. Only, Spanish flu had similar disastrous consequences. As a result, drastic measures (lockdown) h...

Authors: Fabio Cardinale, Giorgio Ciprandi, Salvatore Barberi, Roberto Bernardini, Carlo Caffarelli, Mauro Calvani, Giovanni Cavagni, Elena Galli, Domenico Minasi, Michele Miraglia del Giudice, Viviana Moschese, Elio Novembre, Francesco Paravati, Diego G. Peroni, Maria Angela Tosca, Giovanni Traina…

A caregiver-reported global severity assessment in pediatric atopic eczema: the Comano score

Atopic eczema (AE) is the most common inflammatory skin disease in infancy and its prevalence is rising worldwide. It has a wide social impact on the affected children and their families’ lives. AE can have a ...

Authors: Mattia Giovannini, Davide Geat, Gabriele Barlocco, Riccardo Pertile, Francesca Mori, Cesare Filippeschi, Elio Novembre, Mario Cristofolini and Ermanno Baldo

Bacteriotherapy with Streptococcus salivarius 24SMB and Streptococcus oralis 89a nasal spray for treatment of upper respiratory tract infections in children: a pilot study on short-term efficacy

Recurrent respiratory infections (RRIs) are defined by the presence of at least one of the following criteria: (i) > 6 annual respiratory infections (RIs); (ii) > 1 monthly RIs involving the upper airways from...

Authors: Sara Manti, Giuseppe Fabio Parisi, Maria Papale, Amelia Licari, Carmelo Salpietro, Michele Miraglia del Giudice, Gian Luigi Marseglia and Salvatore Leonardi

Update on protracted bacterial bronchitis in children

Chronic cough is a common symptom in children and protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB) is one of the causes of chronic cough. However, the understanding of this disease remains limited. The present study aims...

Authors: Xiao-bo Zhang, Xiao Wu and Guang-min Nong

Factors associated with the access and continuum of vaccination services among children aged 12–23 months in the emerging regions of Ethiopia: evidence from the 2016 Ethiopian demography and health survey

Child vaccination is an instrument for saving millions of lives. Only one in twenty children has access to childhood vaccination in hard to reach areas in developing countries. Although studies have been done ...

Authors: Ayal Debie and Ayenew Molla Lakew

Inflammation, infection, and allergy of upper airways: new insights from national and real-world studies

The upper airways (UA) should be considered as a functional unit. Current functional anatomy divides URT in three, mutually dependent, “junction boxes”: i) the ostio-meatal complex (OMC), ii) the spheno-ethmoi...

Authors: Attilio Varricchio, Ignazio La Mantia, Francesco Paolo Brunese and Giorgio Ciprandi

FMF is not always “fever”: from clinical presentation to “treat to target”

Familial Mediterranean Fever, a monogenic autoinflammatory disease secondary to MEFV gene mutations in the chromosome 16p13, is characterized by recurrent self-limiting attacks of fever, arthritis, aphthous ch...

Authors: Maria Cristina Maggio and Giovanni Corsello

Epidemiology and drug allergy results in children investigated in allergy unit of a tertiary-care paediatric hospital setting

Drug Hypersensitivity Reactions (DHRs) are considered adverse effects of medications that resemble allergy symptoms. The reported positive clinical history of pediatric drug reactions is about 10%, however, af...

Authors: A. Piccorossi, G. Liccioli, S. Barni, L. Sarti, M. Giovannini, A. Verrotti, E. Novembre and F. Mori

High expression of miR-222-3p in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia in children. However, its mechanism of pathogenesis is not fully understood, and microRNAs might play a role. This study aimed to explor...

Authors: Chu Chu, Xiaoli Lei, Yuqin Li, Yali Luo, Ying Ding, Weifang Zhou and Wei Ji

Omalizumab and mepolizumab in the landscape of biological therapy for severe asthma in children: how to choose?

Severe asthma has a substantial epidemiological impact on children and biological treatments can be an option to take into account, as they target specific molecules and pathways involved in its pathogenesis. ...

Authors: Mattia Giovannini, Francesca Mori, Simona Barni, Maurizio de Martino and Elio Novembre

Hexavalent vaccines in preterm infants: an update by Italian Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology jointly with the Italian Society of Neonatology

Hexavalent vaccines, protecting against six diseases (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis [DTaP], poliovirus, hepatitis B virus [HBV], and Haemophilus influenzae type b [Hib], are routinely the standard of care in Eur...

Authors: E. Chiappini, C. Petrolini, C. Caffarelli, M. Calvani, F. Cardinale, M. Duse, A. Licari, S. Manti, A. Martelli, D. Minasi, M. Miraglia Del Giudice, GB. Pajno, C. Pietrasanta, L. Pugni, MA. Tosca, F. Mosca…

Kawasaki disease triggered by EBV virus in a child with Familial Mediterranean Fever

Familial Mediterranean Fever is a monogenic autoinflammatory disease, secondary to mutation of MEFV gene, and typically expressed with recurrent attacks of fever, serositis, rash, aphthous changes in lips and/...

Authors: Maria Cristina Maggio, Carmelo Fabiano and Giovanni Corsello

Familial Mediterranean Fever: an unusual cause of liver disease

Familial Mediterranean Fever is an autoinflammatory disease typically expressed with recurrent attacks of fever, serositis, aphthous stomatitis, rash. Only a few reports describe the association with hepatic i...

Authors: Maria Cristina Maggio, Maria Castiglia and Giovanni Corsello

Tryptophan metabolic pathway and neopterin in asthmatic children in clinical practice

Tryptophan metabolic pathway is involved in pathogenic mechanisms of asthma. This study aimed to evaluate tryptophan metabolites and neopterin in a group of asthmatic children. Tryptophan metabolites and neopt...

Authors: Amelia Licari, Dietmar Fuchs, Gianluigi Marseglia and Giorgio Ciprandi

PAPA and FMF in two siblings: possible amplification of clinical presentation? A case report

Familial Mediterranean Fever is a monogenic autoinflammatory disease, typically characterized by recurrent attacks of fever, serositis, aphthous of oral mucosa, erythema.

Authors: Maria Cristina Maggio, Isabella Ceccherini, Alice Grossi, Marco Gattorno and Giovanni Corsello

Knowledge, attitude and disinformation regarding vaccination and immunization practices among healthcare workers of a third-level paediatric hospital

Vaccination represents one of the most effective means of preventing infections for the population and for the public health in general. Recently there has been a decline in vaccinations, also among healthcare...

Authors: Carlotta Tomboloni, Chiara Tersigni, Maurizio de Martino, Donata Dini, José Rafael González-López, Filippo Festini, Stella Neri and Daniele Ciofi

Donkey’s Milk in the Management of Children with Cow’s Milk protein allergy: nutritional and hygienic aspects

The therapeutic strategy for children with cow’s milk allergy (CMA) consists in the elimination of cow’s milk (CM) from their diet. Donkey’s milk (DM) has been reported to be an adequate alternative, mainly to...

Authors: Lucrezia Sarti, Mina Martini, Giovanni Brajon, Simona Barni, Federica Salari, Iolanda Altomonte, Giuseppe Ragona, Francesca Mori, Neri Pucci, Giada Muscas, Fina Belli, Franco Corrias and Elio Novembre

Management of chronic urticaria in children: a clinical guideline

The aim of this guidance is to provide recommendations to clinicians and other interested parties on chronic urticaria in children. The Italian Society for Pediatrics (SIP), the Italian Society for Allergy and...

Authors: Carlo Caffarelli, Francesco Paravati, Maya El Hachem, Marzia Duse, Marcello Bergamini, Giovanni Simeone, Massimo Barbagallo, Roberto Bernardini, Paolo Bottau, Filomena Bugliaro, Silvia Caimmi, Fernanda Chiera, Giuseppe Crisafulli, Cristiana De Ranieri, Dora Di Mauro, Andrea Diociaiuti…

Risk factors analysis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and allergic rhinitis in children: a cross-sectional study

To investigate the relationship between symptom of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and allergic rhinitis (AR) in AR children of different genders and ages.

Authors: Keyang Chen, Xiuxiu Zheng, Ziyue Li, Haijie Xiang, Bobei Chen and Hui Zhang

A polycentric, randomized, parallel-group, study on Lertal®, a multicomponent nutraceutical, as preventive treatment in children with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis: phase II

Lertal®, an oral nutraceutical, contains extract of Perilla, quercetin, and Vitamin D3. The current polycentric, randomized, parallel-group, controlled study aimed in the Phase II to evaluate the efficacy and ...

Authors: Gianluigi Marseglia, Amelia Licari, Salvatore Leonardi, Maria Papale, Anna Maria Zicari, Laura Schiavi and Giorgio Ciprandi

Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis: an update focused on clinical grading system

Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a severe disease with a prevalence of < 1 case out of 10,000 in Europe, which occurs mainly in pediatric age and is characterized by a severe and often bilateral chronic in...

Authors: A. M. Zicari, G. Capata, M. Nebbioso, G. De Castro, F. Midulla, L. Leonardi, L. Loffredo, A. Spalice, L. Perri and M. Duse

The role of miR-29c/B7-H3/Th17 axis in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is one of the most common causes of community-acquired pneumonia in children. Recent studies demonstrated that the incidence of severe or fatal M. pneumoniae was gradually in...

Authors: Qing-ling Li, Yin-yin Wu, Hui-ming Sun, Wen-jing Gu, Xin-xing Zhang, Mei-juan Wang, Yong-dong Yan, Chuang-li Hao, Wei Ji and Zheng-rong Chen

Clinical features and prognosis of patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura associated with systemic lupus erythematosus: a review of 25 cases

To report the clinical features of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) associated with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Their diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis were also discussed.

Authors: Ji Li, Jing-Jing Jiang, Chang-Yan Wang, Shan Jian, Yu Zhou, Ming-Sheng Ma, Xiao-Yan Tang, Lin Wang, Mei-Ying Quan, Yu Zhang, Juan Xiao, Yan-Yan He and Hong-Mei Song

Consensus communication strategies to improve doctor-patient relationship in paediatric severe asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that is very common among youth worldwide. The burden of this illness is very high not only considering financial costs but also on emotional and social functioning. Gu...

Authors: Antonietta Cappuccio, Filomena Bugliaro, Silvia Maria Elena Caimmi, Valeria Caldarelli, Lucia Caminiti, Enza D’Auria, Emanuela di Palmo, Marzia Duse, Alessandro Giovanni Fiocchi, Francesco Gesualdo, Ahmad Kantar, Enrico Lombardi, Anna Lucania, Margherita Marchiani, Maria Giulia Marini, Gianluigi Marseglia…

Analysis of the predicting factors of recurrent wheezing in infants

Clinically, asthma in children under 5 years old is under estimated because lack of diagnostic criteria. The current study was, therefore, designed to identify the predicting factors for recurrent wheezing in ...

Authors: Jia Zhai, Yingxue Zou, Jie Liu, Xingnan Jin, Cuian Ma, Jiao Li, Run Guo and Bing Huang

An association analysis to identify genetic variants linked to asthma and rhino-conjunctivitis in a cohort of Sicilian children

Asthma and rhino-conjunctivitis are common chronic diseases in childhood. In this cross-sectional study, we performed a gene association analysis with current asthma and rhino-conjunctivitis in a cohort of Sic...

Authors: Gianluca Sottile, Giuliana Ferrante, Marta Torregrossa, Fabio Cibella, Giovanna Cilluffo, Salvatore Fasola, Riccardo Alessandro, Gregorio Seidita, Giovanni Viegi and Stefania La Grutta

Omalizumab in children with severe allergic disease: a case series

Currently, severe allergic asthma and food allergy in children represent an important public health problem with medical, psychosocial and economic impacts. Omalizumab is a humanized monoclonal anti-IgE antibo...

Authors: Giuseppe Crisafulli, Lucia Caminiti, Fernanda Chiera, Stefania Arasi, Giuseppina Salzano, Ilenia Panasiti, Andrea Barbalace and Giovanni Battista Pajno

SIAIP position paper: provocation challenge to antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in children

Drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs) in childhood are mainly caused by betalactam or non-betalactam antibiotics, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Laboratory tests for identifying children ...

Authors: Carlo Caffarelli, Fabrizio Franceschini, Davide Caimmi, Francesca Mori, Lucia Diaferio, Dora Di Mauro, Carla Mastrorilli, Stefania Arasi, Simona Barni, Paolo Bottau, Silvia Caimmi, Fabio Cardinale, Pasquale Comberiati, Giuseppe Crisafulli, Lucia Liotti, Umberto Pelosi…

Anaphylactic shock with methylprednisolone, Kounis syndrome and hypersensitivity to corticosteroids: a clinical paradox

Corticosteroids are widely used for the treatment of allergic reactions but paradoxically themselves may induce acute, delayed, local or systemic allergic reactions and even anaphylaxis with Kounis syndrome. T...

Authors: Nicholas G. Kounis, Ioanna Koniari, George D. Soufras and Emmanouil Chourdakis