Abstract
Background and Objectives: Among house dust mites, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and D.farinae play an important role as allergens in relation with asthma, allergic rhinitis and other allergic conditions. Therefore in this study, we studied the sensitivity of asthmatic and rhinitis allergic patients to house dust mites.
Materials and Methods: In this prospective study Sera of 101 patients with positive history of allergic diseases were studied. Serum was tested for specific IgE antibody against dust mites using RAST tests (Radio Allergo Immuno Sorbent Test).
Results: Among 101 patients, 60 (59.41%) were asthmatic, 15 (14.85%) had allergic rhinitis and 26 (25.74 %) had the history of both disease. Eleven of these patients (11/101, 10.89%) had positive results for IgE antibody against mites. The sensitivity rate of patients to D. pteronyssinus and D.farinae were 7.92% and 2.97% respectively. Among the control only 7 patients (7%) had positive results for antimite IgE antibody. The sensitivity rate of the control group toward the aforementioned dust mites allergens were 5% and 2% respectively, and there was no significant difference between the results of cases and controls.
Conclusion: We didn’t find a higher sensitivity rates to dust mites in allergic patients compared with normal individuals. We believe that low humidity was the plausible cause of low sensitivity rate to house dust mite in our allergic patients.