Objective:

The gold standard for diagnosis of allergic rhinitis is the skin prick test (SPT). House dust mite (HDM)s and pollens play a predominant role in the development of allergic diseases. In this study, we aimed to identify the distribution of HDM and pollen sensitizations and its specific epidemiologic features among patients with symptoms of chronic rhinitis who had been evaluated with SPT.

Methods:

Nine thousand, eight hundred and eight patients with symptoms of chronic rihinitis for more than 6 months were evaluated with skin prick testing from 1993 to 2006. Responders to the negative control and nonresponders to the positive control were excluded from the study. Antigens of HDMs and specific pollens (grass, cereal, tree, weed, sweet vernal grass, olive, pellitory and bermuda grass) were used in skin prick testing. Patients were examined in 6 groups according to age intervals: <8 years, 9-16 years, 17-25 years, 26-35 years, 36-45 years and >45 years. Subjects with HDM and/or pollen sensitization were examined in terms of age, gender and year distribution.

Results:

Four thousand and fifty-two (41.3%) patients demonstrated allergic sensitization to at least one allergen in SPT. 3216 of these patients (79,3%) were found to be sensitized to HDMs, 1825 patients (45%) to pollens and 989 patients (24,4%) to both HDMs and pollens. The most common allergen encountered in SPT in our study was Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (74.8%), followed by Dermatophagoides farinae (72.7%). The most common pollen sensitization was grass (28.2%), followed by cereal (25.8%). The 17-25 age interval seems to be the most commonly affected age group. The least number of patients with skin prick test reactivity was present in the years 2000 and 2001.

Conclusion:

HDMs were the leading cause of allergic sensitization in our study, followed by grass pollen. Our study reveals some important epidemiological data about the distribution of HDM and pollen sensitizations in Istanbul from 1993 to 2006.

Keywords: Skin prick test, house dust mite, pollen, allergic sensitization, age, gender