Allergic diseases in subjects under 18 years living with HIV

BACKGROUND In recent decades there has been an increase in the prevalence of allergic disease. Manifestations of these diseases have allegedly been observed in people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), however, few studies have been directed at patients under 18 years old. In this context, the aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of allergic disease in patients under 18 years old, living with HIV, and to investigate the relationship between clinico-immunological characteristics of the HIV infection and atopy. METHODS This is a cross-sectional epidemiological study involving patients under 18 years of age who were followed up by specialized HIV services in the Southern Region of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, from February to October 2012. Data collection tools included a questionnaire established by the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC), socio-demographic data, as well as laboratory test results obtained from the medical records. Blood samples were taken to measure total serum Immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels and a Radioallergosorbent Test (RAST) for the main aeroallergens. Analysis was performed using Student's t test, chi-squared, Fisher's exact and Mann-Whitney tests, wherever indicated, with p < 0.05 value considered significant. RESULTS 29 individuals were evaluated. The prevalence of symptoms of allergic disease was 65.5% (95% CI 56.1-74.8), the most frequent being rhinitis 44.8% (95% CI 35.0-54.5), followed by asthma 37.9% (95% CI 28.3-47.4) and eczema 27.6% (95% CI 18.8-36.3). RAST was positive in 20.7% of the individuals. There was no significant difference in terms of total serum IgE between individuals with and without symptoms of allergic disease. Nevertheless, a high frequency of raised levels of total serum IgE (40.7%) and an association between raised IgE and clinical staging of disease were observed. A further association between CD8+ cell count and prevalence of symptomatic allergic disease (p = 0.014) was observed. CONCLUSION There was a high prevalence of reported allergic disease, as well as a high frequency of raised levels of total serum IgE. The association between CD8+ cell count and the prevalence of symptomatic allergic disease corroborates studies that demonstrated the role of such cells in the development of allergic disease.