Sensitization to Ragweed in Egyptian Children with Respiratory Allergy

Abstract

Ragweed pollen is a major cause of respiratory allergy in developed and developing countries particularly in the urban and suburban communities. Ragweed pollen sensitization is known to trigger allergic rhino-conjunctivitis and wheezes rather than skin allergies. We sought to evaluate ragweed sensitization among a group of atopic Egyptian children with physician-diagnosed respiratory allergies using skin prick testing (SPT). The ultimate objective is to estimate the contribution of this allergen as a trigger for respiratory allergy in Egyptian children. One hundred children following up in the Allergy and Immunology Unit, Children’s Hospital, Ain Shams University, Cairo, were enrolled in the current study from September 2018 to September 2019. Children’s ages ranged between 6 and 12 years old with mean age of 8.19 ± 2.18 years (49% of them were females and 51% were males). Less than half of the studied children (41%) were sensitized to ragweed based on SPT. In sensitized children, the mean wheal size was 5.15±1.53 mm ranging from 3-8mm and the mean flare size was 18.59±3.18 mm ranging from 13-25 mm.