title: The serum bank of EuroPrevall - the prevalence, cost and basis of food allergy across Europe.
abstract: EuroPrevall is an EU-funded multidisciplinary project including 62 institutions from 22 countries. EuroPrevall studies the prevalence and distribution of food allergies in infants, children, adolescents, and adults in Europe, threshold doses for allergenic foods, the role of the environment in food allergy, the socioeconomic impact of food allergy, and novel diagnostic tools for food allergies. The EuroPrevall serum bank (EPASB), containing samples from approximately 70,000 subjects, is a major tool to achieve these goals. EPASB is coordinated by the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Langen, Germany. Local sera collections are administered at the University of Amsterdam (NL), the University Hospital of Manchester (UK), Charité Hospital (DE) and the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut. The EPASB coordinator and managing partners distribute samples for experimental work and regulate access. The overall aim is to provide sera to fulfil EuroPrevall research goals. The EPASB coordinator and managing partners suggest appropriate sera for addressing specific scientific and diagnostic questions. The serum bank will be maintained after termination of the project, but subsequent investigations must be in accordance with the original research goals of EuroPrevall. Thus, the contributors of the sera retain control over their future use. This rule prevents investigation of questions outside the scope of EuroPrevall, e.g. the allergenicity of genetically-modified foods.
authors.affiliation: Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Division of Allergology, Paul-Ehrlich-Strasse 51-59, D-63225, Langen, Germany. Viest@pei.de
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vieths
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Reese
authors.forename: Barbara K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Ballmer-Weber
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beyer
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Burney
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Rivas
authors.forename: Collin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Summers
authors.forename: Ronald van
authors.initials: Rv
authors.lastname: Ree
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mills
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D019937:Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; D005060:Europe; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D030841:Food, Genetically Modified; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology*; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007391:International Cooperation; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D007106:Immune Sera; D007073:Immunoglobulin E