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Sensitization to common aeroallergens in children with allergic respiratory diseases seen in an allergy clinic at a tertiary hospital

Objective: To determine the association of skin prick test reactivity with allergic rhinitis and/or asthma. Subjects and Methods: This was a cross-sectional analytical study of children aged 6 months to 18 years diagnosedwith allergic rhinitis and/or asthma, who were seen in an allergy clinic at a tertiary hospital between January 2001 and December 2001. Skin prick tests were done on all patients and included: kapok, Dermatophagoides farinae, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, cat pelt, dog epithelium, cockroach, mixed feathers, Bermuda grass, and Acacia sp. The association of skin prick test reactivity with a diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and/or asthma was determined using the Chi-squared test, with a p value of less than or equal to 0.05 considered significant. Results: A total of 154 patients were included, 24.7% had allergic rhinitis alone, 41.6% had asthma alone, and 33.7% had both allergic rhinitis and asthma. In 71% of patients, the allergic respiratory diseases were atopic (p = 0.0001). Atopy was six times more frequent in patients with either allergic rhinitis alone or with both allergic rhinitis and asthma (both p < 0.0001). Regardless of age, sensitization to D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus was the most prevalent. Sensitization to cockroach ranked next. Reactivity to three or more allergen skin tests increased with age. Patients with both allergic rhinitis and asthma were sensitized to a greater number of allergens than patients with asthma alone (p = 0.0143). Sensitization to D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus increased the prevalence of allergic rhinitis by 10 (p = 0.0002) and 15 times (p < 0.0001), respectively, and the prevalence of asthma by five times (p = 0.0002) in each case. Sensitization to D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus also increased the prevalence of having both diseases by 1 3 (p < 0.0001) and 50 times (p < 0.0001), respectively, and sensitization to cockroach by two times (p = 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated a significant association between D. farinae, D. pteronyssinus, and cockroach with allergic respiratory diseases. However, the variability in the expression of allergic respiratory diseases was not found to be dependent on the type of allergen sensitivity. It is suggested that these are areas for further investigation and potential preventive and therapeutic intervention in the management of allergic respiratory diseases.