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Allergic conjunctivitis in children: current understanding and future perspectives
Jayesh Vazirani1, Sachin Shukla2,3, Ritika Chhawchharia4
1Center for Excellence in Cornea & Ocular Surface Disorders, Excel Eye Care, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Insights
Allergic eye diseases (AEDs) significantly impact children
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Allergology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Allergic eye diseases (AEDs) are a growing global health concern, especially in children.
- These conditions affect quality of life and current treatments have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current knowledge on pediatric allergic eye diseases.
- To explore novel therapeutic strategies.
Main Methods:
- Review of incidence, prevalence, and risk factors for AEDs in children.
- Analysis of underlying mechanisms and diagnostic approaches.
- Evaluation of emerging cell and molecule-based therapies.
Main Results:
- AEDs affect a significant pediatric population, influenced by factors like age and socioeconomic status.
- Novel therapies involving cells (e.g., stem cells, Tregs) and immunotherapy show promise.
Conclusions:
- Understanding AED demographics and risk factors is crucial for effective management.
- Future treatments will likely focus on cellular therapies and immunotherapy for pediatric allergic eye conditions.
Purpose Of Review:
The rising global burden of allergic diseases, particularly in the pediatric population, is of serious concern. Ocular allergy is one of the most common ocular pathologies met in clinical practice. A large proportion of children and adolescents suffer from allergic eye diseases (AEDs), which affect their quality of life. The available treatments and surgical modalities have their limitations and side effects. Therefore, the development of novel and alternate strategies is the need of the hour and requires a timely review of currently available knowledge.
Recent Findings:
The current review covers the incidence and prevalence of AEDs, factors influencing occurrence and severity of AED (age, sex, socioeconomic status etc.), underlying mechanisms, role of allergy testing and immunotherapy in children, development of diagnostic markers and novel therapies including cells and molecules.
Summary:
Understanding the demographics, clinical patterns and risk factors of AED can help formulate appropriate preventive and therapeutic strategies for the effective management of this common cause of ocular morbidity. The future therapeutics for AED seems to rely primarily on cells (mesenchymal stem cells, Tregs, mast cells), cell products, molecules with immunosuppressive potential and immunotherapy.
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