Allergic disease and the infestation of Enterobius vermicularis in Swedish children 4-10 years of age.

BACKGROUND

The possible association between certain childhood infections and the propensity to develop allergic disease may include intestinal helminth infections. The experiences of such associations derive mainly from studies in tropical areas, and the results are not clear-cut.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the association between Enterobius vermicularis and allergic disease in Swedish children 4 to 10 years of age.

METHOD

The occurrence of E. vermicularis was examined by perianal tape tests in 70 allergic children recovered from a pediatric register of positive skin-prick tests. A nonallergic control group (n = 102) was gathered from a cohort of children previously examined for the prevalence of E. vermicularis and allergic symptoms.

RESULTS

In the allergic group 26 of the 70 cases (37%) had a positive tape-test for E. vermicularis, compared to 23 of the 102 cases (23%) in the nonallergic control group (p = .037).

CONCLUSION

The results indicate that E. vermicularis could be more frequent in children with allergic disease as defined by allergic symptoms and a positive skin-prick test compared to nonallergic children, i. e., those without a history of allergic disease. These data, however, do not allow any conclusion on the nature of the possible association between E. vermicularis and allergic disease.