The PAPA Trial

Our aim is to prevent people from developing asthma which is  the most common chronic disease of childhood. To do this we first need to identify children who are most at risk of having asthma.

In 1989, we recruited a birth cohort on the Isle of Wight and collected information on factors that cause asthma, such as having parents with asthma and allergy. We then developed methods to accurately predict who will develop asthma.

We also tested various methods to prevent asthma in children. A pilot study conducted on the Isle of Wight and Southampton demonstrated that house dust mite drops, given under the tongue (sublingual immunotherapy), can prevent infants developing allergy and later asthma.

We are now about to start one of the largest asthma prevention trials, Preventing childhood Asthma using Prophylactic house dust mite Allergen immunotherapy (PAPA). We will use methods developed in the Isle of Wight birth cohort to identify children who are at high asthma risk, and test whether giving infants house dust mite tablets can prevent them developing asthma. If the trial is successful, we may be able to prevent the development of half of all childhood asthma.