Aeroallergen Sensitization in Childhood Asthmatics in Northern India.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of sensitization to common aeroallergens in asthmatic children and study the differences in characteristics of atopics and non atopics. Design: Analysis of data from a prospective cohort study. Setting: Pediatric Chest Clinic of tertiary care center in Northern India Patients: Asthmatic children from 5-18 year of age. Main outcome measures: Prevalence of sensitization to common aeroallergens. Results: Skin prick testing (SPT) was performed on 180 children above 5 years of age, with a mean (SD) age of 111.4 (34.2) months. 100 children (55.6%) were sensitized to at least one aeroallergen, suggesting atopy; 68 (37.8%) were sensitized to more than one allergen. 36.7% children were sensitized to housefly antigen; 31.1% to rice grain dust, 18.3% to cockroach, and 7.8% to house dust mite antigens. Atopic children had significantly higher median FENO during follow up than nonatopic children (17.5 ppb vs 13 ppb, P=0.002). There was a positive correlation between age and the number of allergens that an individual was sensitized to (r= 0.21; P=0.0049). Conclusions: More than half of asthmatic children in our cohort had sensitization to one or more aeroallergens suggesting atopy; sensitization was most commonly seen to housefly antigen and rice grain dust. Atopic children had significantly higher FENO measurements during follow up as compared to non-atopic children.