PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Fatma Chermiti Ben Abdallah
AU  - Soumaya Ben Saad
AU  - Amel Chtourou
AU  - Sofia Taktak
AU  - Ridha Mahouachi
AU  - Fatma Tritar
AU  - Ikram Drira
AU  - Ali Ben Kheder
TI  - Sensitization to aeroallergens in Abderrahmen Mami Hospital, Tunis
DP  - 2012 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P3993
VI  - 40
IP  - Suppl 56
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3993.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3993.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2012 Sep 01; 40
AB  - Introduction: respirtory allergy is increasing worldwide.Type and multiplicity of allergens depends on the region.Aim of the study: determine the profile of sensitization to common aerollergens in patients consulting for respiratory allergies at Abderrahmen Mami hospital in Tunis.Patients and method: retrospective study including 400 patients consulting in our hospital between January 2009 and mars 2011 for respiratory allergy and having positive skin prick tests. Skin prick tests were performed with a battery of 12 common aerollergens.Results: Patients mean age was 20 years with sex ratio of 0.8. Respiratory allergy consisted of asthma in 72 % of cases and rhinitis in 58 % of cases. In 34 % of cases the two diseases were associated. Sensitization profile was as follows: house dust mites (HDM) in 85 %, pollen in 17 %, cat in 9 %, dog in 5 %, cockroach in 5 %, aspergillus in 1 %, alternaria in 0.5 % and feathers in 0.5 % of cases. In 35 % of patients, there was a multisensitization. Asthma and rhinitis were diagnosed in respectively 76.4 % and 60 % of patients with HDM sensitization. Pollen allergy was associated with rhinitis in 68.3 % of cases and asthma in 60.8 % of cases. Patients with cat or cockroach sensitization were asthmatic in 70 % of cases. Three patients of four having aspergillus sensitization had severe asthma. Statistic analysis found no relation between type of aerollergen and disease severity.Conclusion: most frequent aeroallergens responsible of respiratory allergy in our patients were HDM and pollens. Asthma was the principle manifestation and no relationship was found between type of aeroallergen and severity of respiratory allergy.