Children with eczema, food allergy and asthma have a greater risk of developing eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) than those without the conditions, according to a study presented at the AAAAI/WAO joint congress in early March.
Dr. Jonathan Spergel and his colleagues analyzed a birth cohort of 130,457 children to see whether there was a link between EoE and the atopic march, the theory that those with one allergic disease are more likely to develop a progression of one or more additional allergic diseases. The march usually begins with eczema when an infant is around 5 months old, and can continue on to food allergy, allergic rhinitis or asthma in childhood. And now the researchers are adding EoE to the list.
In the study, 139 children developed EoE and the peak age for diagnosis was 2.7 years. Kids with eczema are more likely to be diagnosed with food allergy or asthma by the age of 1.
“Our findings indicate that EoE falls into the pattern of atopic march, although EoE tends to be diagnosed later in the progression,” Spergel, the chief of the allergy section at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a press release.
Additionally, Spergel said if “a child is diagnosed with all three conditions, they are even more likely to develop EoE than if they only had one or two other conditions.”
In general, babies who were male and Caucasian were more likely to develop the condition than others.
For more about EoE, see Allergic Living’s interview with Dr. Spergel from 2017.
For full coverage of the AAAAI/WAO joint congress, see here.