Why Early Childhood Allergy Prevention (ECAP)?

Up to 20% of children are affected by allergic diseases, including asthma and hay fever. Apart from the costs, an allergic disease is often associated with a considerable reduction in quality of life, not only for those affected, but also for the family/personal environment.

Early childhood allergy prevention (ECAP) is therefore an area with high public health relevance, in which a paradigm shift away from allergen avoidance towards tolerance induction has also been taking place for some time.

The research of the HELICAP group is not only concerned with parents of children with allergies or at risk of allergies, but also examines the framework conditions and counselling situations with health professionals. 

In view of these challenges, there is a particular need for:

• Greater awareness of factors that hinder good health decisions
• Considering social, ecological and systemic determinants that influence health literacy and subsequent health decisions
• Explaining the value of scientific evidence and professional expertise in strengthening health literacy
• The development of interventions for health literacy.

Schäfer, T.; Bauer, C.-P.; Beyer, K.; Bufe, A.; Friedrichs, F.; Gieler, U.; Gronke, G.; Hamelmann, E.; Hellermann, M.; Kleinheinz, A.; et al. S3-Guideline on allergy prevention: 2014 update: Guideline of the German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology (DGAKI) and the German Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ). Allergo J. Int. 2014, 23, 186–199.

Kopp, Matthias V.; Muche-Borowski, Cathleen; Hamelmann, Eckard (2022): S3-Leitlinie Allergieprävention. Hg. v. AWMF online. Online verfügbar unter https://register.awmf.org/assets/guidelines/061-016l_S3_Allergiepraevention_2022-11.pdf.