[Analysis of the prevalence characteristics and trends of allergen-specific IgE levels in a children's hospital in Wuhan City from 2019 to 2024].

Authors

Y H Liu, Q Du, M R Zhang, Y Li, M Kong, H Y Wang, Y Yan, H B Chen, X X Lu

Published in

Zhonghua yu fang yi xue za zhi [Chinese journal of preventive medicine]. Volume 60. Issue 6. Pages 864-875. Jun 06, 2026.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the changes in the positive rate of specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) for inhalant and ingestive allergens in children at a certain children's hospital in Wuhan City from 2019 to 2024, and to analyze the characteristics of allergen sensitization in different age groups, genders, and seasons, as well as the trend of allergen changes over different years. Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted. Clinical data of 64 116 children aged 0-16 years who visited Wuhan Children's Hospital and underwent sIgE testing for 20 common inhalant and ingestive allergens from January 2019 to December 2024 were collected. The patients were divided into the infant group (25 955 cases, 0-3 years old), the preschool group (22 167 cases, 4-6 years old), the school-age group (15 061 cases, 7-12 years old), and the adolescent group (767 cases, 13-16 years old). Non-parametric rank sum test and χ² were used for analysis and comparison. Results: A total of 64 116 children with suspected allergic diseases from 2019 to 2024 were included. Among them, the overall positive rate of allergen sIgE was 33.2% (21 258/64 116 cases). Comparison of the positive rate of allergens between different years showed statistically significant differences (χ²=987.392, P<0.05), and a significant upward trend was observed after 2020-2022, with 35.8% (5 416/15 122 cases) and 39.2% (4 872/12 433 cases) in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The top 4 inhalant allergens with the highest positive rate of sIgE in suspected allergic disease children from 2019 to 2024 were Dermatophagoides farinae, house dust, Alternaria alternata, and cat epithelium. Milk, eggs, wheat flour, and soybeans were the main top 4 ingestive allergens. The positive rate of allergens in male children was higher than that in female children for house dust mites, house dust, Alternaria alternata, peanuts, soybeans, milk, crabs, shrimp, eggs, codfish, and wheat flour, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the positive rate of inhalant and ingestive allergens among different age groups (except for common ragweed, mugwort, cockroach, crabs, beef, and mutton), and the positive rate of multiple allergens was higher in the preschool group, such as 33.5% (7 437/22 167 cases) for eggs, 33.1% (6 903/22 167 cases) for Dermatophagoides farinae, and 26.5% (5 876/22 167 cases) for milk. The detection rate of multiple sensitizations increased year by year (The χ² trend test value is 2 796.539 7, P<0.05), and the proportion of quadruple or more (i.e., detection of 4 or more positive allergens) sensitization reached 12.1% (1 504/12 433 cases) in 2024. The comparison of the positive rate of inhalant and ingestive allergens between seasons showed statistically significant differences (P<0.05). Conclusion: There are distinct gender, age and seasonal distribution characteristics of allergens in children in Wuhan area.

PMID:
42331525
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Jun 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.