A prospective study of 337 children was carried out during a 3-month period. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the importance of indoor environmental factors in homes and day-care institutions for the incidence of middle ear effusion (MEE). The indoor environmental factors measured in institutions were carbon dioxide, temperature, and relative humidity. Conditions in the homes were assessed by a questionnaire. Middle ear effusion was measured by tympanometry. No relationship was found between indoor environmental factors and MEE, with the exception of parental smoking at home, which increased the frequency of MEE in children.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A one-year case study of farmers with storage mite allergy.

Four farmers with a positive bronchial challenge test to either L. destructor or T. putrescentiae had bronchial histamine challenge every second month during a year. In the same year, monthly samples of house dust, grain, straw and hay were analyzed for their content of house dust mites and storage mites. The exposure to house dust mites and storage mites differed between farmers. Significant changes in histamine reactivity were found, but no association with time of year or mite counts was observed.

Agriculture↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Storage mites as a cause of bronchial asthma in Denmark.

From October 1982 to July 1983, 133 consecutive patients complaining of allergic symptoms were prick-tested with three storage mites (Acarus siro, Lepidoglyphus destructor, Tyrophagus putrescentiae) and two housedust mites (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae). A total of 60 patients (45%) had a positive prick-test for one or more of the storage mites. A mutual positive correlation was found between the prick-test results for the two house-dust mites as well as for the three storage mites. No significant correlation was found between house-dust mites and storage mites. Four cases of allergy to storage mites are presented. The diagnosis of storage mite allergy was based on the clinical history, prick-test, bronchial provocation test and the finding of storage mites in the environment of the patient. Our study suggests that allergies to storage mites could be rather frequent in the Danish population.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Characteristics of mold allergy.

The sensitization of three common species of molds (C. herbarum, A. alternaria, A. fumigatus) and other common inhalation allergens was studied by SPT (skin prick testing) and RAST in 677 asthmatic patients. Ten percent of patients had an SPT with a mean diameter of at least 2 mm, and 5% had a positive RAST (>0.35 PRU/l) to at least one mold species. A positive RAST was most strongly associated with a positive RAST to animals (odds ratio 9.5) and less positively with a positive RAST to house dust mites (odds ratio 3.9) and storage mites (odds ratio 1.8). Sensitization to mites was significantly associated with indices of damp dwellings, whereas sensitization to molds was not. This study suggests that sensitization to molds mostly occurs in patients with a high potential for being sensitized to common inhalation allergens and that sensitization to molds is not related to damp dwellings.

Alternaria↗