RESUMEN
PURPOSE: Allergens that cause asthma include those derived from indoor allergens such as animal dander (dog and cat). The aim of the study is to provide baseline data on characteristics of home environments in Korea, which will be used for future comparative studies of indoor environmental factors between populations with contrasting asthma prevalence. METHODS: The study was performed during September through November (Autumn) 1999. A total of 206 residential homes were volunteers from different districts in Seoul. They participate in home environment survey and skin prick tests. The dust specimens were collected by vacuum cleaner (V-582T, 520W; LG). We detected animal dander (Can f 1 and Fel d 1) by monoclonal-antibody based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). RESULTS: The average indoor temperature was 25.1+/-2.9 degrees C and the relative humidity was 54.0+/-9.6%. The positive rate of dog (Can f 1) was 35.4% and cat (Fel d 1) was 33.5%. It is the same between Can f 1 and Fel d 1 distributed within dust samples from the four sites of the homes. And the distribution level of Can f 1 and Fel d 1 was, for the living room 26.2%, 17%, for the bedroom 20.9%, 15%, for the children's room 20.4%, 10.2%, for the kitchen 16%, 8.7 %, in descending order. CONCLUSION: The positive rate of Can f 1 was higher than Fel d 1 in dust samples. The living room has highest distribution of dust samples among the four sites of a home. And it has similar distribution between Can f 1 and Fel d 1.