[Prevalence of positive skin tests to indoor allergens in preschooler children with respiratory allergy in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico].

BACKGROUND

Infantile asthma and rhinitis are commonly thought to be caused by indoor allergens but preschooler children are not commonly skin tested.

OBJECTIVE

To know the frequency of skin test reactivity to indoor allergens in allergic preschooler children.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

We evaluated 176 children (103 females/73 males) between 2 and 5 years old with respiratory allergy. All of the children tested had at least one positive skin test (house dust mite, cockroach, dog, feathers, and cat).

RESULTS

Seventy seven children had allergic rhinitis (44%), 68 had asthma and rhinitis (39%), and 31 had only asthma (18%). One hundred thirty two (75%) of the children were skin test positive to house dust mite, 91 (52%) to cockroach, 31 (18%) to dog, 25 (14%) to feathers, and 24 (14%) to cat. Furthermore, the frequency of sensitization to house dust mite has an increase associated with the age of the patients with a significant difference at 5 years old (odds ratio=11.63, I.C. 95%=3.83-37.10; p <0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The most frequent indoor allergen was house dust mite, with a trend directly proportional to age of the patients.