Pattern of skin sensitivity to various aeroallergens in bronchial asthmatic patients in Lagos, Nigeria.

Abstract

Unlabelled: Background: Skin prick testing is an established way of investigating respiratory allergic diseases to determine the allergen or allergens responsible for clinical symptoms as well as degree of reactivity in the individual cases.

Objective: To study the skin sensitivity to various aeroallergens by skin prick test in selected asthmatic patients (with and without concurrent Allergic Rhinitis).

Design: A prospective case-control study.

Setting: Tertiary Health Institution.

Subjects: Cases were 160 adult patients with confirmed bronchial asthma and controls were 160 subjects without bronchial asthma.

Methods: Skin prick test was performed with a panel of allergens which included house dust mites, cockroach, cat, dog, moulds, and aspergillus fumigatus on all subjects.

Results: Amongst the asthmatic patients 148 (92%) had positive skin tests to the allergens, this is higher than findings from previous studies carried out on asthmatics in Lagos. The house dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssimus) had the highest proportion of reactions among the study group. There is a higher incidence of severe reactions to other allergens (grass mix, dog skin, cat skin, aspergillus, cockroach) in the asthmatics than the control.

Conclusion: The skin test is a valuable diagnostic tool in detecting the presence and degree of allergy in asthmatics in our environment. However, the house dust mite was allergen that most of the subjects reacted to.