Cockroach Allergy: Is It Common in Jeddah City? A retrospective study

Background: Cockroaches are a common indoor cause of allergic diseases. However, cockroaches are underestimated as a trigger. Objective: To find which allergic diseases are associated with cockroach sensitization in Jeddah city. Methods: This is a retrospective paper completed in 2021. The sample group of this paper involved 192 allergic patients with high levels of specific allergy testing (sIgE) to cockroaches. The data for this paper is from a private centre specialising in allergies in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The in vitro tests used were indirect immunoassay tests for the most common indoor allergens. Clinical diagnosis of allergic diseases were also collected. Results were collected via special sheets and tables were extracted. Results: The sample group for this paper was 192 allergic patients. Patients of middle ages are the most likely to experience sensitisation to cockroaches as follow: 56 between 30-40 years (29.1%) and 36 between 40-50 years (18.8%). The commonest indoor allergens associated with cockroach sensitisation are mites, cats and mould: dermatophagoides pteronyssinus as 109 (56.8%), dermatophagoides farinae as 114 (59.4%), cat as 89 (46.4%) and alternaria as 86 (44.8%). The commonest allergic diseases associated with cockroach sensitisation are allergic rhinosinusitis as 74 (38%), atopic dermatitis as 52 (27%) and asthma as 42 (21.8%). Cockroach sensitisation is mostly of mild severity (under class 2); however, this must be linked to clinical allergic symptoms. Conclusion: Cockroach sensitisation is most common in the middle aged population(30-50 years). Cockroach sensitisation is commonly associated with other indoor allergens sensitisation (respectively: mites, cats, and alternaria). The commonest allergic diseases associated with cockroach sensitisation are allergic rhinosinusitis, atopic dermatitis, and asthma. Cockroach sensitisation is of mild severity in most of cases (under class 2); however, this must be correlated to a clinical allergic diagnosis. Keywords: allergic diseases, asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, atopy, cockroach sensitization, cockroach allergy