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Munblit D, Greenhawt M, Brough HA, Pushkareva A, Karimova D, Demidova A, Warner JO, Kalayci O, Sediva A, Untersmayr E, Rodriguez Del Rio P, Vazquez-Ortiz M, Arasi S, Alvaro-Lozano M, Tsabouri S, Galli E, Beken B, Eigenmann PA. Allergic diseases and immunodeficiencies in children, lessons learnt from COVID-19 pandemic by 2022: A statement from the EAACI-section on pediatrics. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2022; 33:e13851. [PMID: 36282136 PMCID: PMC9538373 DOI: 10.1111/pai.13851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
By the April 12, 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in over half a billion people being infected worldwide. There have been 6.1 million deaths directly due to the infection, but the pandemic has had many more short- and long-term pervasive effects on the physical and mental health of the population. Allergic diseases are among the most prevalent noncommunicable chronic diseases in the pediatric population, and health-care professionals and researchers were seeking answers since the beginning of pandemic. Children are at lower risk of developing severe COVID-19 or dying from infection. Allergic diseases are not associated with a higher COVID-19 severity and mortality, apart from severe/poorly controlled asthma. The pandemic disrupted routine health care, but many mitigation strategies, including but not limited to telemedicine, were successfully implemented to continue delivery of high-standard care. Although children faced a multitude of pandemic-related issues, allergic conditions were effectively treated remotely while reduction in air pollution and lack of contact with outdoor allergens resulted in improvement, particularly respiratory allergies. There is no evidence to recommend substantial changes to usual management modalities of allergic conditions in children, including allergen immunotherapy and use of biologicals. Allergic children are not at greater risk of multisystem inflammatory syndrome development, but some associations with Long COVID were reported, although the data are limited, and further research is needed. This statement of the EAACI Section on Pediatrics provides recommendations based on the lessons learnt from the pandemic, as available evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Munblit
- Inflammation, Repair and Development Section, Faculty of Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Matthew Greenhawt
- Section of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Helen A Brough
- Children's Allergy Service, Evelina Children's Hospital, Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital, London, UK.,Paediatric Allergy Group, Department of Women and Children's Health, School of Life Course Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Anna Pushkareva
- European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Diana Karimova
- European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Anastasia Demidova
- European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), Zurich, Switzerland
| | - John O Warner
- Inflammation, Repair and Development Section, Faculty of Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Omer Kalayci
- Pediatric Allergy and Asthma, School of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Anna Sediva
- Department of Immunology, 2nd Medical Faculty, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Eva Untersmayr
- Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center of Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Marta Vazquez-Ortiz
- Inflammation, Repair and Development Section, Faculty of Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Stefania Arasi
- Translational Research in Pediatric Specialities Area, Division of Allergy, IRCCS, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy
| | - Montserrat Alvaro-Lozano
- Allergology and Clinical Immunology Department, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sophia Tsabouri
- Child Health Department, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece
| | - Elena Galli
- Pediatric Allergology Unit, Department of Pediatric Medicine, S.Pietro Hospital Fatebenefratelli, Rome, Italy
| | - Burcin Beken
- Department of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Acibadem University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Philippe A Eigenmann
- Pediatric Allergy Unit, Department of Woman, Child and Adolescent, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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