High levels of IgG4 are also found in subjects with chronic helminth infections87,88 and a recent study in Uganda on the relationship between immune responses to S. mansoni and allergy found that: ‘total and allergen-specific IgG4/IgE ratios were mostly inversely associated with atopy, implying that the regulatory role of IgG4 against allergy might best be assessed relative to IgE'89. Here, IGHE is linked to allergic disease.