title: Pediatric allergic rhinitis: factors affecting treatment choice.
abstract: Allergic rhinitis is the mostprevalent chronic allergic disease in children. Although it is not life-threatening, it can have a significantly detrimental effect on a childs quality of life, and it may exacerbate a number of common comorbidities, including asthma and sinusitis. The Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma guidelines, an evidence-based algorithm for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, advocate the use of antihistamines for the treatment of the broad spectrum of the disease. However, first-generation antihistamines are associated with a number of adverse events, including central nervous system impairment and anticholinergic and cardiovascular effects. Moreover, these agents have not been rigorously tested in the pediatric population. Nevertheless, first-generation antihistamines remain the most frequently prescribed agents in this class of drugs. This is despite the fact that the second-generation antihistamines are largely free of the undesirable side effects associated with their predecessors and the fact that they have been shown to be effective in relieving allergic rhinitis symptoms in children in a number of large-scale clinical trials. Therefore, when selecting an antihistamine for a child, it would be prudent to consider the full range of antihistamines and to base the selection of a particular drug on its efficacy, onset and duration of action, and safety profile.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cell Biology, Department of Pediatrics, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, 1400 Jackson St., Denver, CO 80206, USA. gelfande@njc.org
authors.forename: Erwin W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Gelfand
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D039563:Histamine H1 Antagonists, Non-Sedating / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006635:Histamine H2 Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists; D039563:Histamine H1 Antagonists, Non-Sedating; D006635:Histamine H2 Antagonists