BACKGROUND Microbial deprivation early in life can potentially influence immune mediated disease development such as allergy. The aims of this study were to investigate the influence of parental allergy on the infant gut colonization and associations between infant gut microbiota and allergic disease at five years of age. METHODS AND FINDINGS Fecal samples were collected from 58 infants, with...

BACKGROUND It has been well known that pediatric allergic rhinitis was associated with poor performance at school due to attention deficit. However, there were no cohort studies for the effect of treatment of allergic rhinitis on attention performance in pediatric population. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate whether attention performance was improved after treatment in children wi...

The differences between allergic and non-allergic rhinitis were evaluated in 127 individuals from tropical urban region of Venezuela. The study design had historic data obtained regarding exacerbation of initial symptoms on exposure to common precipitants, physical examination, nasal cytology, immunodiagnostic test, routine laboratory test (fresh stool test, white cell count and urine test) and...

BACKGROUND Asthma is a heterogeneous chronic inflammatory condition characterised by reversible airway obstruction and hyperresponsiveness associated with underlying bronchial inflammation and structural changes. It represents an increasing health problem and is a huge burden on the patients, their families and society. The aim of the study was to characterise the adult asthmatic population att...