Analysis of inhalant and food allergen-specific IgE in a children's hosipital in Suzhou City from 2017 to 2024

To investigate the distribution of common inhalant and food allergens test results in children in Suzhou by gender, age and disease group, and to analyse the changes in allergen distribution in the different years, to provide theoretical guidance for the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of children's allergic diseases in Suzhou City. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to analyze the 2 736 children (1 654 males and 1 082 females) who were diagnosed and tested serum content of specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) antibodies to inhalant and food allergens in the Children's Hospital of Soochow University between October 2017 and June 2024. The allergen sIgE positive rates epidemiological characteristics were statistically analyzed by Chi square test by grouping based on different year, gender, age and disease. The results showed that a total of 2 736 children screened for allergens, with an overall positive allergen sIgE rate of 73.06%(1 999/2 736), and the top five allergen sIgE positive rates were Dermatophagoides farinae (40.75%, 1 115/2 736), Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (38.78%, 1 061/2 736), milk (34.65%, 948/2 736), egg whites (32.68%, 894/2 736) and molds and yeasts mixes (mx2) (24.82%, 679/2 736). The positive rates of food allergen sIgE were higher in the 2017-2019 (60.46%, 370/612) than the 2020-2022 (53.79%, 149/227) and after the 2023-2024 (48.46%, 895/1 847) (χ²=27.059,P<0.001); The positive rates of inhaled allergen sIgE were lower in the 2017-2019 (40.03%, 245/612) than the 2020-2022 (52.71%, 146/227) and the 2023-2024 (56.04%, 1 035/1 847)(χ²=47.223, P<0.001). The positive rates of inhaled allergen sIgE in males (54.96%, 909/1 654) were higher than those in females (47.78%, 517/1 082) (χ²=13.497, P<0.001). The total positive rate for the food allergen sIgE was highest at 1-3 years of age (67.55%, 589/872) and then gradually decreased with age (χ²=194.095, P<0.001); The total positive rate of inhaled allergen sIgE was lowest at the age of less than 1 year (8.33%, 22/206) and then gradually increased with age (χ²=300.329, P<0.001). The positive rates of food allergen sIgE, in descending order from high to low were asthma (59.40%), atopic dermatitis and eczema (48.10%), other groups (48.02%), allergic rhinitis (45.73%) and urticaria (40.00%); The positive rates of inhaled allergen sIgE were asthma (71.05%), allergic rhinitis (63.57%), atopic dermatitis and eczema (62.17%), urticaria (40.00%) and other groups (49.76%), and the difference between disease subgroups were statistically significant(χ² were 64.841 and 19.055, P<0.05). In conclusion, the top four allergen sIgE positive rates for children in the Suzhou area were Dermatophagoides farinae, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, milk and egg white. Total sIgE positive rates for food allergens decreased progressively in the 2017-2019, 2020-2022 and 2023-2024, and total positive rates for inhalant allergens increased progressively in the 2017-2019, 2020-2022 and 2023-2024. The distribution of allergen positive varies with gender, age and disease.