Brigita Stočkutė¹ 

¹Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Faculty of medicine

 Abstract

Allergic diseases are becoming a more and more urgent problem in the word – it affects the health of many people, becomes a difficult economic burden for society. About 30 percent of the world’s population is suffering from allergic diseases. About 90 percent of patients have several allergic illnesses. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the incidence of allergic diseases has increased rapidly over the last fifty years in industrialized countries. The sensitization to allergens is currently diagnosed with up to 50 percent of school-age children. According to the data of the Hygiene Institute of the Lithuanian Health Information Center, the incidence of allergic diseases had increased from 30,8 to 44,5 in the last decade in Lithuania. As allergic diseases are increasing, accurate diagnosis of allergens is important for clinical practice, scientific and epidemiological research. The skin prick test and the detection of specific allergens of immunoglobulins E are the main research methods used for diagnostics of allergic diseases. However, only a few studies have been founded to determine which method is more accurate. More authors say there is no ‘gold standard’ study as both studies have said different correlations with different allergens in different age groups. In this study, we trying to review sources of literature that investigate children’s sensitivity to different allergens E.

Keywords: skin prick test, specific allergens of immunoglobulins E, allergy, allergens, children.