Total serum IgE levels in Venezuelan schoolchildren

Abstract

Seventy-eight disease-free children were evaluated by PRIST for total serum IgE in order to establish the normal range for this immunoglobulin and assess its utility, in tropical climates, such as Venezuela , as a diagnostic tool for clinical allergy. Seventy-eight normals were selected from a group of 1053 children, aged 7-12 years from fourteen schools in Caracas. Exclusion from the normal pool was based on nationality, and on historical, clinical, and/or laboratory evidence of atopic and /or infectious diseases, particularly with parasites, In addition to a routine CBC and differential, the following studies were performed: a search for stool ova and parasites; in vitro (RAST) and in vivo (skin prick) testing for specific IgE to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Aspergillus fumigatus, and ragweed. Measurement of antibodies against influenza A and B, adenovirus A2 , cytomegalovirus, parainfluenza 1 and 3, herpes simplex, respiratory syncytial virus, Coxsackie B1 to B6, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Rotavirus was also carried out. Normal serum IgE levels for disease-free children in the age group studied ranged from 1,7-255 u/ml. The highest average level(Y: 74 u/ml) occurred at the age of 9 years. These values differed significantly from age-matched control groups of known atopic and helminth-infected children. Thus, once common causes for elevated IgE levels are eliminated, determination of total serum IgE can be utilized as a valuable tool in diagnosis of clinical allergy in countries with tropical climates.