[Prevalence of cosmetic sensitivity among beauticians]. / Prevalencia de sensibilizaciones a cosméticos en profesionales de la estética.

Cosmetics are a frequent cause of contact dermatitis, not only in females but also in males. Men use cosmetics in the form of deodorant, hair dye and aftershave lotions. U.S.A men spent more than 6,000,000,000 million dollars in cosmetic products. Responsible substances of contact dermatitis are unidentified in many occasions, what impedes the estimation of morbidity data. It is calculated that 2-4% of dermatological consultations are due to contact dermatitis caused by cosmetics. The Spanish industry manufactures each year articles valued in several thousands of million pesetas, 14% of which are exported. Annual manufacturing is raising between 10 and 11%. The French journal Cosmetology (IMS) pointed as an example the fact that in the third trimester of 1978, the number of sold products was as follows: 87,880 units of cleansing milk; 128,020 creams; 237,200 tonics; 10,228 lip protectors. The Committee of European Unions for Perfumery and Cosmetology (COLIPA) reported in 1978 a yearly sale in Europe of 225,000,000 units of hair dyes, exclusively. Adverse reactions to cosmetics affect not only the skin in the form of irritant or contact dermatitis, but cases of conjunctivitis, asthma, urticaria, rhinitis, angioedema, pneumonitis and anaphylaxis-like reactions due to cosmetic products, mainly hair bleaching agents, perm liquids and hair spray, have been also reported. The present work studied the prevalence of sensitizations to cosmetic products on the professional staff of a beauty salon in our city of Las Palmas (SEM). Twenty people came to our Unit of Allergology to fill a questionnaire and undergo a skin test.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Prevalence of sensitization to Blomia in Gran Canaria]. / Prevalencia de sensibilizaciones a Blomia en Gran Canaria.

In the present study we assessed the prevalence of sensitizations to Blomia in our environment. Perennial climatological conditions in the Canarian Islands facilitates the habitat to mites. The Blomia is found in tropical and subtropical homes of Europe, USA and Asia like the Dermatophagoides. We have designed a transversal and prospective study on 100 patients who consulted our Unit for the first time. A Prick-test for the common allergens, including Blomia Kulagini, and in vitro determination of total and specific IgE to Dermatophagoides Pteronyssinus and Farinae, was performed in those patients showing the same or higher levels than class 3 CAP System RAST-Fesa against Blomia Tropicalis. Results achieved in our environment and our patients are the following: 1. Prevalence of sensitizations to BK in patients who consult for the first time is 50%. 2. The specific IgE immunologic response to BK is 56% (45 patients). 3. Scarce correlation in the papule areas and specific IgE levels between BT and DTP (p = 0.22020); BT and DFA (p = 0.09063). Table VI. Fig. I and II. 4. These results and previous studies of allergenization suggest poor crossed reactivity between Blomia and Dermatophagoides. 5. We think that Blomia is a new etilogic agent of the allergic respiratory disorders in our environment and therefore it should be included in the standard set of allergens from a diagnostic and therapeutical point of view. We keep studying its identification and count in dust samples from our homes, as well as the crossed reactivity, by RAST inhibition, with other acari.

A new method of administration of topical nasal extracts. Immunoaerosol therapy.

Topical nasal immunotherapy (TNI) is a therapeutic option in residual rhinitis. Adverse reactions are common with pollen extracts and often are related to the phenol and thimerosal conservatives. This study sought to determine the clinical effectiveness of two methods of administration of TNI. Twenty-eight patients with allergic perennial rhinitis treated for 2 years with parenteral semidepot immunotherapy were divided into two groups of 14 patients: group A receiving conventional aerosol nebulization (TNE), and group B, which received TNAI using a type F aerosol electrocompressor. Clinical response and tolerance to TNI were evaluated using scores for signs and symptoms. The conclusions were: Both group A and group B exhibited statistically significant differences between baseline and post-immunotherapy parameters (p < 0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in the degree of improvement achieved in the two groups. The main advantages of TNAI were better tolerance of the D. pteronyssinus extracts, perhaps due to the elimination of conservatives, and the guarantee of correct administration of the dose and control of minimum reactions. For these reasons it is a viable therapeutic option in allergic perennial rhinitis previously treated for two years with parenteral semidepot immunotherapy.

Reliability diagnosis of FAST in allergic rhinitis. Correlation with RAST, nasal provocation and prick test.

Not much data is available on the reliability diagnosis of IgE FAST, in comparison with other "in vitro" and "in vivo" techniques. The motive of this study was to evaluate FAST sensitivity in patients with rhinitic allergies, comparing it with RAST and the prick test. Thirty-four patients, monosensitized in 11 cases for pollen, in 16 for mites and in 7 for moulds were studied. Ten patients with negative nasal provocation were used for the control group. In a total of 133 sera, there was class concordance between FAST and prick test in 59.39% of the cases, with a r = +0.41 and p less than 0.001 correlation coefficient. Corcordance of FAST and RAST for a total of 135 sera was 65.18%. Concordance in those who had nasal positive provocation was 87.65% for FAST, 75.04% for RAST and 92.85% for prick. From our experience with FAST, in patients with allergic rhinitis for the pneumoallergens evaluated, we conclude that this test constitutes an alternative "in vitro" diagnosis in the cases indicated. We found that its advantages were its low cost in the way of human and economical resources, its greater reliability in comparison with RAST, its simple administration and it being harmiess.

Immunotherapy with standard bacterial and bacterial ribosomal antigens in childhood bronchial asthma.

UNLABELLED: In this study we compared the therapeutic effectiveness of a lyophilized bacterial vaccine (LBV) with that of a vaccine prepared from bacterial ribosomal antigens (ARB) in 150 children with bacterial bronchial asthma. The immunological response of the patients was assessed clinically at 6 months, 1 year and 3 years, by determining the intensity and frequency of the bronchospasm. The serum immunoglobulin levels, the only immunologic parametres studied, were determined at basal conditions and following immunotherapy. CLINICAL RESULTS: after 360 days we detected a better clinical response in those patients who received the ribosomal vaccine (ARB), whereas after 3 years there was no difference in the clinical response between this group of patients and the group who received the bacterial vaccine (LBV). Immunological results: we were not able to show a statistically significant increase in immunoglobulin levels during the three years of immunotherapy with the two vaccines. However, those patients who possessed a deficit in IgG displayed a statistically significant increase in IgG levels after 360 days (t = 3.58, p less than 0.01), and an even greater increase after 1080 days (t = 7.86, p less than 0.001), of treatment with the standard bacterial vaccine. The ribosomal vaccine produced a significant increase in IgG levels (t = 9.59, p less than 0.001) after 1080 days also in patients with a deficit in IgG. In patients with a previous deficit in IgA we did not observe an increase in serum IgA levels during immunotherapy with the bacterial vaccine, but with the ribosomal vaccine these patients displayed significantly higher levels of IgA (t = 13.09, p less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)