Prevalence Rate of Sensitization to Cat Allergen in Children with Nasal Symptoms in Kunpo city

Park, Yang

Abstract

PURPOSE
To investigate the prevalence rate of sensitization to indoor allergens, especially cat allergen in children with nasal symptoms in Kunpo city.
METHODS
This study was a retrospective analysis of our radioallergosorbent test (RAST) database. We included 926 children with nasal symptoms between 3 months and 14 years of age. They underwent RAST which included 5 indoor and 4 food allergens. They were grouped according to age (0 to 3 years, 3 to 6 years, 6 to 9 years, 9 to 15 years). We calculated the prevalence rate of that sensitization according to age groups.
RESULTS
Among the patients, 50.4% had the sensitization to at least > or =1 allergen of the RAST. The prevalence rate of sensitization increased according to the age group (P<0.05). The most common indoor allergen was Dermatophagoides farinae (D.f.) (22.6%), followed by cat (22.5%) and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (D.p.) (17.4%). Especially in the 0 to 3 age group, cat allergen (22.1%), was the predominant allergen, followed by dog (18.1%) and D.f. (8.7%). Among 926 patients, the rate of cat ownership was only 0.43%. The most common food allergen was pork (15.7%), followed by milk (4.9%) and egg white (3.2%). Pearsons test revealed significant correlation between cat and pork (r=0.563, P=0.000).
CONCLUSION
This study shows a high rate of sensitization to cat allergen especially the 0 to 3 age group. It might be caused by exposure to wild cat in the community. We need to design a policy to reduce airborne cat allergen in the community.