Quality of life of patients with perennial allergic rhinitis: preliminary validation of the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire in Singapore.

Though sufferers of perennial allergic rhinitis do not die from their ailment, they endure years of chronic nose disease that Interferes with many important aspects of their lives. A rhinitis-specific instrument to gauge the quality of life of patients with this disease was published in 1991. Here, we validated the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) for use in English-speaking patients with perennial allergic rhinitis. We established that the RQLQ distinguishes between patients and control, demonstrates internal consistency and is sensitive to change. This study suggests that the RQLQ can be used to assess the quality of life of patients with perennial allergic rhinitis in Singapore.

Healthy adults demonstrate less skin reactivity to commercial extracts of commonly ingested food than to D. farinae.

The aim of this study is to determine the skin reactivity of healthy Oriental adults to commercial extracts of commonly ingested food and the house dust mite D. farinae, a common local aeroallergen. D. farinae and 18 food extracts were skin prick tested on adults without any personal history of atopic diseases and food allergy. The extracts of food not consumed by any subject on religious or personal grounds were not tested for that individual. A total of 103 healthy adults who fulfilled the selection criteria were skin prick tested. There were 35 males and 68 females. Their mean age was 29 years (SD +/- 7.5) with a range of 19 to 49 years. Sixty-eight percent were Chinese, 12.6% Malay, 12.6% Indian and 6.8% other Oriental races. Fifty-four (52.4%) were positive for D. farinae while only 12 (11.7%) were positive for at least one food extract The food extract that gave the most number of positive reactions was shellfish mix (5/102, 4.9%). A family history of atopy did not have any significant correlation with the results of skin test. It was concluded that healthy adults demonstrate less skin reactivity to extracts of commonly ingested food than to D. farinae.

Allergic reactions to phenytoin in a general hospital in Singapore.

Phenytoin is used for the treatment and prevention of fits. We investigated all patients reported to have phenytoin allergy in our hospital and found 42 confirmed cases. Sixty-nine percent were female and 83.3% were Chinese. The mean age of the patients was 46.5 years. The reactions reported were maculopapular rash (71.4%), Stevens-Johnson syndrome (14.3%), fever (4.8%), generalized exfoliative dermatitis (2.4%), toxic epidermal necrolysis (2.4%), vasculitis (2.4%) and agranulocytosis (2.4%). In conclusion, the majority of reported allergic reactions to phenytoin were cutaneous (92.9%) and one fifth of these were potentially life-threatening.

Allergen skin test and total IgE in adults with rhinitis in Singapore.

The aim of this study was to determine the allergen skin test positivity and total serum IgE of adult patients in Singapore with clinical features suggestive of allergic rhinitis. The study was carried out prospectively from January to August 1990. All patients had one or more of three symptoms (1) rhinorrhoea or nasal congestion, (2) itching nose or throat and (3) sneezing, as well as pale edematous nasal mucosa. Twenty inhalant allergens (Greers Laboratory, USA) were used for skin prick test (SPT). Serum total IgE was measured using 3M FAST test. Eighty-five consecutive patients, 54 males and 31 females, were studied. Their mean age (SD) was 26.8 (6.1) years. More than half (55.3%) had severe symptoms affecting work. Twenty percent did not have any positive skin reaction compared with 44.9% of age-matched healthy controls; 62.4% had 2 or more positive reactions compared to only 37.2% of controls. These differences were statistically significant (p < 0.002). The two most commonly, positive allergens were Dermatophagoides farinae (76.5%) and house dust (61.2%). No significant difference was found in the skin test positivity between males and females. Forty-three patients also had serum total IgE measurement and their geometric mean IgE was 240 IU/I which was significantly higher than the geometric mean IgE of healthy controls (88 IU/I, P = 0.0005).