Alternaria as a major allergen for asthma in children raised in a desert environment.

Abstract

The relationships of asthma and allergic rhinitis with individual immediate skin test responses were examined for preferential associations and for changes with age in children raised in a semiarid environment. Prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma was 9.8% at age 6 (n = 948) and 15.5% at age 11 (n = 895). Immediate skin test responses to Bermuda grass were the most prevalent among children with allergic rhinitis and control subjects, whereas responses to the mold, Altenaria alternata, were the most prevalent among asthmatics. Skin test responses for crude house dust, Dermatophagoides farinae, and cat had low prevalences in all groups. By logistic regression, Alternaria was the only allergen independently associated with increased risk for asthma at both ages 6 and 11. Allergic rhinitis showed independent association with sensitization to Bermuda grass and mulberry tree pollen at age 11 but did not show an independent relation to any single allergen at age 6. Logistic regression further revealed that persistent asthma (diagnosed before age 6) was independently associated with Alternaria skin tests at both ages 6 and 11, whereas new asthma (diagnosed after age 6) was associated with Alternaria skin tests at age 6 but not at age 11. We conclude that Alternaria is the major allergen associated with the development of asthma in children raised in a semiarid environment and that skin test responses at age 6 are more closely linked to asthma than those at age 11.

Exposure to Alternaria alternata in US homes is associated with asthma symptoms

“…5,6,8,12 In our population, active asthma symptoms were slightly more prevalent among children than among adults (8.4% vs 6.5%; P = .12 for difference), but the observed effect was not modified by age. Although the point estimate for the association was higher among children than among adults, there was no evidence of significant interaction.…”

Particle-size distributions and seasonal diversity of allergenic and pathogenic fungi in outdoor air

“…Dothideomycetes includes genera associated with allergenic fungi such as Alternaria, Epicoccum, Curvularia and Cladosporium. A. alternata is a major allergen associated with the development of asthma in children (Halonen et al, 1997) whereas Cladosporium spp. are abundant and common fungi both indoors and outdoors (Shelton et al, 2002) and are associated with respiratory allergy (D'Amato et al, 1997).…”

Comparisons of seasonal fungal prevalence in indoor and outdoor air and in house dusts of dwellings in one Northeast American county1

“…Only 3% of samples collected from 11 homes had Alternaria spores over 100 per cubic meter air. Alternaria has been identified in one study as a major allergen associated with the development of asthma in children raised in a semiarid environment, but the exposure level of Alternaria was not reported ( Halonen et al, 1997 ). Holmberg (1987) reported that Aspergillus spore concentrations above 50 CFU / m 3 were associated with a higher prevalence of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS ).…”