Pan-European Surveillance of Allergens

The partners of the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network of Excellence (GA2LEN, Brussels, Belgium) have designed a new skin-prick test panel to study the prevalence of allergens throughout the European Union (EU).

The skin-prick panel assesses sensitization against 18 inhalant allergens, and will provide standardized data on the frequency of many under-detected inhalant allergens in European patients suffering from allergic rhinitis and asthma.

"We are currently facing an unbroken trend of increasing prevalence of inhalant allergies all over Europe,” said Prof. Paul van Cauwenberge, the coordinator of GA2LEN, from the University of Ghent, department of ear, nose, and throat (ENT). "Especially in the last years, it has been observed that the pollen flight has become more intense.”

GA2LEN consists of 25 university clinics spread throughout Europe as well as the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients Associations (EFA). The objective of the organization is to enhance the quality and integration of research, address all aspects of the disease, and eventually to decrease the burden of allergy and asthma throughout Europe. The new study is supported by an unrestricted grant from Schering-Plough (Kenilworth, NJ, USA).




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