ABSTRACT
Prospective study of infants selected for genetic susceptibility to develop allergy has revealed a characteristic pattern (38). Initial skin-test reactivity is typically to foods and correlates with the occurrence of eczema. After age 2, the young child develops skin-test reactivity to inhalant allergens, which correlates with the occurrence of rhinitis and asthma. An allergy survey on young children presenting with acute wheezing at the University of Virginia revealed specific lgE for inhalants in only 9% of those under 2 years, in 35% of children ages 2 to 4 years, and in 74% of those over 4 years (42). Viral infections without underlying allergy were thought to account for wheezing in the younger children.
