Introduction: Allergic diseases including asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis are the common chronic illness which have negative impact on children’s health and quality of life. Aeroallergens are known as an important risk factor in trigger of allergic disease. Identification of sensitization in each area has important role in symptom control of allergic disease. Skin prick test (SPT) is a simply useful method to identify aeroallergens sensitization.
Objectives: To determine the prevalence and pattern of aeroallergen sensitization among children presenting with allergic symptoms at a single tertiary care hospital in Thailand.
Methods: A cross-sectional, retrospective descriptive study. The medical records and database of SPT results of children (aged 1-18 years) who attended the pediatric allergy clinic at Chiang Mai University Hospital from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2018 were collected.
Results: A total of 315 patients (male, 193 [61.3%]) were enrolled to the study. The mean age was 9.18 (S.D.= 2.96) years. The prevalence of sensitization or SPT-positive to any allergen was 82.9%. The most frequent allergens were house dust mite (77.8%) [Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus 77.1%, Dermatophagoides farinae 75.7%], follow by cockroach (62.6%) [American cockroach 61%, German cockroach 51.4%], pollens (29.3%) [Bermuda grass 25.7%, Johnson grass 21.6%] and pet dander (26.8%) [Dog epithelium 11.8%, Cat pelt 20.8%]. Presence of asthma (OR [95%CI] =2.210 [1.06-4.61]) and male gender (OR [95%CI] =1.849 [1.09-3.14]) were significant factors associated with any sensitization and SPT-positive to pollen, respectively. Compared pattern of sensitization data between 2007-2012 and 2015-2018, the rate of cockroach sensitization has increase significantly.
Conclusion: House dust mite, cockroach, and grass pollen were the common aeroallergens that allergic children in Chiang Mai sensitized. Asthma was the factor associated with SPT positivity. Increase in sensitization to cockroach was observed.
Keywords: Allergen, Sensitization, Skin test, Rhinitis, Asthma, Thailand
