An analysis of skin prick test reactions in 656 asthmatic patients.

Abstract

(1975). Thorax, 30, 2-8. An analysis of skin prick test reactions in 656 asthmatic patients. Of 656 asthmatic patients referred specifically for allergy assessments, 544 (84%) gave positive immediate skin prick tests to at least one of 22 common allergens used routinely.Comparison of these skin test positive patients with the 102 (16%) who were skin test negative showed a number of significdnt differences. The majority of the skin test positive patients (52%) were less than 10 years old at the time of onset of the asthma, whereas, of the skin test negative patients, 56% were aged over 30 years at the time of onset. Seventy per cent reported rhinitis compared with 48% of the skin test negative patients, and 29% reported infantile eczema compared with 9%. Symptoms attributed to house dust, pollens, and animals were noted two to three times more frequently by the skin test positive patients, while corticosteroid drugs had been used more commonly by the skin test negative patients (45% compared with 35%).No significant differences were observed with the other factors studied, namely, history of urticaria or angio-oedema, family history of 'allergic' disease, and awareness of sensitivity to foods, aspirin or penicillin.Prick test reactions in the skin test positive patients were most commonly seen to house dust or the acarine mite, Dermatophagoides farinae (82%), followed by pollens (66%), animal danders (38%), foods (16%), Aspergillus fumigatus (16%), and other moulds (21%). There was a highly significant association of positive history with positive prick test for all allergens studied.Although the association between immediate wealing skin reactions and asthma has been recognized for many years (Coca and Cooke, 1923), the specificity of these tests, their relation to etiology, and their clinical significance has been in dispute. Rackemann (1947) suggested that the presence of positive skin reactions on routine prick testing with common inhalant and food allergens should place the asthmatic into the extrinsic (allergic) category where usually the onset of symptoms is early in life and the prognosis more favourable than in the intrinsic (nonallergic) category (Rackemann and Edwards, 1952;Rackemann, 1958).Raised serum IgE levels have been found in Present addresses: 1Department of Chest Diseases, United Oxford Hospitals

Skin prick test reactivity to common aeroallergens in relation to total IgE, respiratory symptoms, and smoking in a general population sample of northern Italy

“…Other studies (24,25) have reported decreased prevalence of skin reactivity with age, but with different peaks of maximum reactivity: e.g., 20-34 (24) and 40 years (25). In our study, the distribution of skin test positivity by age appears similar to that of Barbee et al (24).…”

Allergen Sensitization Profile in Patients of Naso-Bronchial Allergy From Rural and Urban Area of Residence in Central Rajasthan

“…Some studies done in past have shown increased association with family history of allergy: Giridhar BH et al 18 studied that family history of atopy was present in more than 50% patient, E. O. Bandele et al 20 found that 63% of the patients with positive skin tests had a positive family history of asthma, Raja Rajeshwari et al 21 in their study found that a family history of allergy was obtained in 62.5% patients, R. L. Agrawal 17 found that 72% of the patients had a family history of asthma or allergic rhinitis; while other studies have shown a finding similar to our study-Giriyanna Gowda et al 19 found that family history of allergy was absent in 56.83% of the patients, D. J. Hendrick et al 22 conducted a study in 656 asthmatic patients and found that family history was not present in 61.43% of the cases, Erkan Ceylan et al 23 studied in 420 patients and found absence of family history in 63.8% of the cases, Bener A et al 24 found that family history of allergy was absent in 56% of the cases. Earlier studies on allergic inheritance, reported a positive family history in 40 to 80% of individuals with an allergic disease as compared to 20% or fewer in individuals without an allergic disease.…”

Prevalence of Allergic Broncho Pulmonary Aspergillosis in patients with Asthma attending allergy clinic in a North West Indian Tertiary Care Institute

“…Some of the studies took only A. fumigatus antigen for skin testing, while others included other fungal allergens too. [4,5,7,[13][14][15][16][17][18] Similarly, type I, type III and type IV skin test reactivity was considered in some studies and only type I in others. [3,4,7,13,17] There was also a difference in the type of skin test used in various studies like some studies used prick test while others used intradermal test.…”