Consultant & Honorary Senior Lecturer in Paediatric Allergy

Profile

Dr Fox is a Consultant Paediatric Analyst at the Evelina Children’s Hospital based at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, which is the largest paediatric allergy centre in Europe. He studied pre-clinical medicine at Cambridge University, completing a neuroscience degree before his clinical training at University College, London. He has worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, The Royal Free Hospital, and St. Mary’s Hospital (all in London) as a paediatrician and allergist, and is now one of a niche group of consultants specialising in the cross-over discipline of paediatric allergy.

Dr Fox is an accomplished educator, acting as a course director for the Institute of Child Health, London and the Medical Defence Union. He is also a previous editor-in-chief of the Internet Journal of Paediatrics and an accredited member of the Higher Education Academy. He has also taught an MRCPCH revision course in Dubai.

Paediatric allergy

The past few decades have seen an epidemic in allergy in the developed world that appears to be related to increasing affluence and urbanisation. Whilst 40 years ago it was rare to find someone with an allergy, a recent study has shown that 39% of children now suffer from allergies such as eczema, asthma, hay fever, and food allergy in developed countries, and prevalence is increasing rapidly in the rest of the world.

Until recently allergies have been poorly understood, leading to inaccurate diagnosis and incorrect treatment. Children with allergies have traditionally been treated by whichever specialist was considered appropriate; for example a child with eczema would be sent to a dermatologist; asthma to a respiratory paediatrician; or a child suffering from a food allergy would be sent to see a general paediatrician, a gastroenterologist, or not even make it beyond seeing their GP.

An allergic child will usually have more than one allergy as the diseases interact with each other, and a holistic approach is needed to ensure effective treatment. A paediatric allergist will diagnose the “trigger” that is causing the child to have allergic reactions, rather than just treating the symptoms as happened in the past.

However, expertise in paediatric allergy is scarce in the Middle East, and while there is at present no data for prevalence in Arab countries, anecdotal evidence suggests it is a widespread condition. The modern holistic approach is not widely practised and paediatric allergy is not an established specialty.

The modern approach to paediatric allergy has led to dramatic advances in diagnosis and treatment in the last decade. For example, new desensitisation or ‘immunotherapy’ treatments can make children resistant to their allergies, and the importance of diet in combating allergies has been identified as a key factor and better understood as a treatment technique. In the UK studies have shown that children who are seen by a specialist paediatric allergist are better educated about their allergies, and are less likely to suffer allergic reactions in the future.