OBJECTIVE To explore the epidemiological characteristics of common allergens among children with allergic rhinitis (AR) in a children′s specialized hospital of Beijing.

METHODS A total of 2120 children who met the diagnostic criteria of AR and were treated in otolaryngology department of Beijing Jingdu Children′s Hospital from 2021 to 2023 were recruited as the research subjects. The specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) of allergens was detected by western blot quantitative assay. The positive rates of the allergens were statistically analyzed according to the age, sex and years. The epidemiological characteristics and changing trends were observed.

RESULTS The positive rate of allergens was 47.78% among the 2120 children, in whom multiple allergies polysensitization were predominant; the positive rate of allergens and polysensitization rate were the highest among the population aged between 1 and 7 years old. The inhalational allergens were dominant, and the positive rate of the Candida group was highest. The positive rates of inhalant allergens and ingested allergens reached the peak at the age of 1-7 and then declined with age; milk and egg white were the two types of predominant ingested allergens in childhood. Among the 2120 children, there were significant differences in the positive rates of allergens between the male and the female, and the positive rates of the male were higher than those of the female (P < 0.001). The positive rates of allergens generally showed upward trends during the 3 years, the positive rates of the inhalant allergens such as mugwort, cat hair and dog dandruff ascended by a large margin, and the positive rates of the ingested allergens such as milk, egg white and egg yolk showed remarkable rising trends.

CONCLUSIONS The causes of AR are complicated. There are a variety of factors affecting the allergen test. The epidemiological characteristics of the allergens among the AR children are observed from multiple perspectives, which may provide references for prevention and treatment of the children with AR.