Allergic skin tests in Malaysian asthmatics

To assess the prevalence of skin test sensitivity among asthmatic patients in Malaysia, skin prick tests for allergy in 134 adult asthmatic patients and 120 control subjects were done. 90% of asthmatic patients had positive skin test to at least one allergens as compared to 78% of the controls. House dust mite was the most frequent allergen to which the subjects had positive reactions. Sixty-four percent of the asthmatic patients had associated rhinitis. There was no significant difference in the skin test sensitivity between asthmatic patients with associated rhinitis and those without.