Is month of birth a risk factor for subsequent development of pollen allergy in adults?

A comparison of the date of birth of 1501 adult patients with severe seasonal respiratory allergy (allergic rhinitis or bronchial asthma) due to parietaria, olive, and grass pollens with the expected births within 2,020,420 births in South Greece during the same period, was performed. The relative risk for developing respiratory allergy was characteristically increased in those born in a specific period of time different for each pollen. The relative risk for parietaria was increased (1.47) in those born in March; for olive it was 1.6 for May; 1.2 for April; and 1.4 for March, while the relative risk for grasses was 1.2 in those born in June and July. These findings are indicative of the importance of the month of birth; that is, the early exposure to pollens, for the development of respiratory allergy to certain pollens during adulthood. Because our findings do not directly correlate completely with the aerobiology studies on pollen calculation in Athens' atmosphere, we supposed that other environmental factors, e.g., the local intensity of the first pollination or the influence of weather conditions, may contribute to the final development of respiratory allergy as well. The most impressive finding was the significant influence of the month of birth in the development of respiratory allergy due to parietaria and olive pollens during adulthood.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled evaluation of sublingual immunotherapy with standardized olive pollen extract in pediatric patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and mild asthma due to olive pollen sensitization.

For evaluation of the efficacy and the safety of specific sublingual immunotherapy with high allergen dose, 66 children with seasonal asthma, rhinitis, and conjunctivitis due to sensitization to olive pollen were enrolled in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study between October 1994 and October 1996 in Greece. Thirty-four patients were randomly allocated to the active group, and 32 received placebo. Immunotherapy consisted of olive-allergen extracts (Stallergènes SA) administered sublingually pre- and coseasonally from January to July for 2 consecutive years. Serial concentrations from 1 to 300 IR. were used up to the maintenance dose of 20 drops of 300 IR daily. The cumulative dose for each patient was 300 times higher than in parenteral immunotherapy, and the cumulative dose of the major allergen Ole e 1 was 8.1 mg/2 years. The patients were assessed by clinical parameters (symptom and medication scores from patients' daily diaries) and immunologic measurements (specific IgE, IgG4, eosinophil cationic protein [ECP]) were performed. The actively treated patients had a significantly lower score for dyspnea (P<0.04 during the first season; P<0.03 during the second season). At the pollinic peak during the second year, a lower score of conjunctivitis was recorded (P<0.05) in the actively treated patients. The analysis of intragroup evolution showed that the total score of rhinitis increased significantly during the pollinic peak in the group under placebo, whereas there was no symptomatic peak for the same period in the group under active treatment. However, the difference between the groups was not significant. The medication score did not differ significantly between the groups. Oral steroids were the only variables with a P value near the significance level (P=0.06) in favor of the actively treated group. A significant decrease in skin reactivity was recorded in the active group after 2 years of treatment. No significant variation in specific IgE and IgG4 was detected. A significantly lower level of serum ECP was observed at the pollinic peak in the actively treated patients during the first pollen season (P=0.01), but this was not confirmed the second year when the ECP levels doubled in both groups without correlation to the clinical findings. Tolerance was excellent with only a few minor side-effects reported. In conclusion, high-dose specific sublingual immunotherapy appears to be safe and effective in improving mild seasonal asthma and conjunctivitis linked to olive-pollen sensitization.