STUDY DESIGN: A non-randomized prospectively collected patients over a three year period, with complaints of nose congestion, rhinorrhea and/or nasal discharge.
RESULTS: There were 435 patients enrolled, 213 children and 222 adults. The children group had a high prevalence of allergen specific IgE to Dermatophagoides pteryonysinus (70%), Dermatophagoides farina (69%), and Blomia tropicalis (55%); followed by dogs (32%), cats (19%) and cockroaches (19%). In the children food allergy category, the top three allergens were egg white (54%), milk (31%) and soya bean (13%). The adult group had results of Dermatophagoides pteryonysinus (71%), Dermatophagoides farina (72%), and Blomia tropicalis (59%); the adult food allergy category, the top 3 allergens were egg white (13%), milk (6%) and soya bean (5%). There was a statistically significant difference in the child and adult group for Dust, D. pteryonysinus, D. farina, B.tropicalis, egg white, wheat, gluten and soya bean. In the age specific child groups, there was an increased in egg food allergy levels, with a peak at the age of five-nine years old and decreasing thereafter (p=0.04). In the children group, the mean Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS) was 10.3 (range of 7 to 13); the adult group was similar, with a mean TNSS of 9.8 (range 5 to 12).
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of food allergy in paediatric patients with allergic rhinitis is fairly high and should be considered when treating these children.
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of allergen sensitization and family history of atopy on asthma and allergic disease in Chinese schoolchildren from three southeast Asian populations.
METHODS: Written questionnaires on respiratory and allergic symptoms were completed by parents of children of secondary-school age (age range 12 to 18 years) in Hong Kong (n = 1062), Kota Kinabalu in eastern Malaysia (n = 409), and San Bu in southern China (n = 737). A subsample of school-children underwent skin prick testing to common inhalant allergens (Hong Kong 471 children, Kota Kinabalu 321, San Bu 647).
RESULTS: The prevalence of asthma and allergic disease in schoolchildren was highest in Hong Kong, intermediate in Kota Kinabalu, and lowest in San Bu. However, the overall rate of atopic sensitization was similar in the three populations (49% to 63%). House dust mite and cockroach were the two most common allergens causing sensitization and these gave rise to more than 95% of the positive skin test results in all three populations. By regression analysis, mite allergy was associated with rhinitis and asthma in all three populations, and a family history of asthma, rhinitis, or eczema was strongly associated with respective symptoms in the subjects. After adjusting for age, sex, atopic status, and family history of allergic disease, the place of residence remained a significant independent factor for asthma (odds ratio [OR] = 1.0 for Hong Kong, 0.57 for Kota Kinabalu, 0.15 for San Bu, p < 0.001), rhinitis (OR = 1.0 for Hong Kong, 0.59 for Kota Kinabalu, 0.15 for San Bu, p < 0.001), or eczema (OR = 1.0 for Hong Kong, 0.35 for Kota Kinabalu, 1.01 for San Bu, p < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Sensitization to indoor allergens was a significant risk factor for asthma and allergic disease, and familial clustering of disease was common in the region. However, the marked difference in disease prevalence in the three southeast Asian populations of Chinese schoolchildren cannot be explained by atopic sensitization and family history alone, and the place of residence was an independent risk factor for asthma and allergies, which suggests an important environmental role in disease pathogenesis.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the purified latex allergens and to demonstrate specific IgE antibody in the sera of health care workers and spina bifida patients with clinical latex allergy.
METHODS: Two radioallergosorbent and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using latex proteins Hev b 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 along with two glove extracts and Malaysian nonammoniated latex (MNA) were evaluated to demonstrate IgE in the sera of health care workers and spina bifida with latex allergy and controls with no history of latex allergy.
RESULTS: ELISA using the purified latex allergens demonstrated specific IgE in 32-65% health care workers and 54-100% of spina bifida patients with latex allergy. The corresponding figures for RAST were 13-48 and 23-85 for RAST-1 and 19-61 and 36-57 for RAST-2. These results were comparable with the results obtained with glove extracts and crude rubber latex proteins.
CONCLUSIONS: When used simultaneously, latex proteins Hev b 2 and Hev b 7 reacted significantly with specific serum IgE in 80% of health care workers and 92% of spina bifida patients with latex allergy by ELISA technique, while this combination gave lower positivity when the RASTs were used. By the addition of Hev b 3, specific IgE was detected in all spina bifida patients with latex allergy. Both RASTs failed to show specific IgE in the control subjects, while the ELISA showed significant latex-specific IgE in 22% of controls.