The blood IgE compartment in atopic asthmatic children has previously been found to exhibit a classical, antigen-driven response inconsistent with a superantigen driven response (40), whereas the IgE compartment in blood of young children with atopic dermatitis, does indeed display skewed VH gene usage and low levels of somatic hypermutation, which may be interpreted as signs of activation by a superantigen (41). The gene discussed is IGHE; the disease is atopic eczema.