How common are allergies?

In the meantime, every second 17-year-old in Germany has at least one sensitization in the skin test (prick test) to an allergen that is inhaled. A child's risk of developing an allergy depends on the family's genetic history of allergic diseases. If one parent is ill, four out of ten children also develop an allergy. If both parents are ill, eight out of ten children will also develop an allergy.

Is there a prevention against allergies?

There is still no single effective prevention. It is considered certain that exclusive breastfeeding in the first four months can reduce the development of allergies. The nursing mother should also eat fish. The complementary food after the first four months should also contain fish. A low-allergen diet does not protect against allergies. Cats should not be kept in homes with vulnerable children. Dogs, however, may be kept. Even during pregnancy, the mother should not be exposed to cigarette smoke or smoke herself. There are indications that vaccinations against so-called childhood diseases reduce the risk of developing allergies! Opponents of vaccination often claim the opposite, but this has been refuted in studies. For more information, please refer to the current guidelines on vaccination prevention , from which the above recommendations also come.

How does an allergy show up in children?

Children with allergies often first develop eczema in infancy and are then symptom-free for a few years before they develop an allergic cold or even allergic asthma. All the classic symptoms, such as sneezing attacks and runny nose, do not always occur together. Allergies are often also reflected in an increased tendency to infections of the upper respiratory tract and in nocturnal mouth breathing with snoring. If the symptoms occur in connection with the pollen season, the diagnosis of an allergic rhinitis is likely.

How is an allergy diagnosed?

Allergies are difficult to prove up to the eighth birthday. The disease can begin even before the tests on the skin, in the blood or in the nose are positive, i.e. the allergy can be detected. Sometimes only a treatment attempt with special nasal sprays and juices, which can suppress allergic reactions, helps. If the symptoms disappear with this treatment, then an allergy must be assumed. Testing the parents can then be helpful, because the triggering allergens often match.

What are the consequences of an allergy for children?

Children with allergies often sleep less and less well, are restless and irritable during the day and later have lower average grades at school than healthy children. A severe allergic cold to grasses or trees during the pollen season restricts the quality of life just as much as cancer. There is also a risk that the child will develop asthma.

How is an allergy treated?

The only treatment that can stop the allergy and prevent the development of asthma is specific immunotherapy (SIT), also known as hypo- or desensitization. This lasts at least three years and should be carried out as early as possible. Classically, the child receives an injection under the skin once a month. Alternatively, a sublingual treatment can be considered, in which the child has drops or an orodispersible tablet dripped or placed under the tongue every day. If the symptoms are only suppressed with antihistamines and cortisone in tablets, nasal or bronchial sprays, the worsening of the disease is not affected. Only SIT can relieve the allergy. It works in 80% of the treated allergy sufferers, which is why it is the first choice therapy.

What can you expect from us?

We will provide you with a comprehensive allergological examination and treatment of your child. For examinations that we do not offer, you will receive referrals to pneumologists and pediatric pneumologists with whom we work together and from whom we can also get short-term appointments for your child if necessary. Please spare your child the classic allergic path of suffering that ends with asthma and chronic bronchitis in 33% of sufferers and ask us whether and, if so, how we can help your child.