The Role of Helminth Infection and Environment in the Development of Allergy: A Prospective Study of Newly-Arrived Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel.
Autor: | Miguel Stein, Zalman Greenberg, Mona Boaz, Zeev T Handzel, Mesfin K Meshesha, Zvi Bentwich |
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Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2016 |
Předmět: | |
Zdroj: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 10, Iss 1, p e0004208 (2016) |
Druh dokumentu: | article |
ISSN: | 1935-2727 1935-2735 |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004208 |
Popis: | Helminth infection may be protective against allergy and account for the low prevalence of allergy in developing countries. We studied prospectively the prevalence of allergy in Ethiopian immigrants with heavy helminth infection on arrival in Israel, and again after a year of adjustment to an urban industrialized setting, to explore the roles of helminth infection, changed environment and background immunity on the manifestations of allergy. 126 newly arrived Ethiopian immigrants were studied at baseline and 115 after a year of follow up in Israel. Allergic symptoms, Skin prick tests (SPT), Tuberculin (PPD) skin tests, stool and blood samples were obtained for determining parasites, blood IgE and eosinophil levels, respectively. Anti-helminthic therapy was offered to the entire infected individuals, but only 50/108 (46.3%) took the medication. At baseline, there was a significant negative association between helminth infection and allergy, 4/18 (22.2%) of uninfected participants were allergic compared to 7/108 (6.5%) of helminth-infected participants (p = 0.028), as well as between helminth infection and SPT reactivity, 12/18 (66.6%) of uninfected participants compared to 43/108 (39.8%) of helminth-infected participants (p = 0.033). After one year, a significant general increase in allergy and SPT was observed. While only 11/126 (8.7%) were allergic at baseline, 30/115 (26.1%) became allergic at follow-up (p |
Databáze: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
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