Journal List > Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis > v.21(3) > 1033125

Lee, Hong, Kim, Lee, Kim, Kim, Choi, Lim, Lee, and Shin: The Influence of the Residential Environment on the Sensitization Rates to Aeroallergens and the Prevalence of Allergic Disorders in the School Children in Jeju

Abstract

Purpose

This study is to investigate the influence of the residential environment on the sensitization rates to aeroallergens and the prevalences of atopic disorders in the school children.

Methods

Two elementary schools in Jeju, Korea were selected according to their distinctive residential environment, one located in the area surrounded by the tangerine farms and Japanese cedar forests (tangerine farming community) and the other rarely with them (non-tangerine farming community). All the school children (1,550 students) from the two school were enrolled in this study. Under their parents' informed consent, surveys based on International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire were answered by the parents and skin prick tests with 16 common aeroallergens were performed.

Results

The questionnaire is responded from 1,290 parents (83.2%) and the skin test was done in 1,284 students (82.8%). The sensitization rates to more than one aeroallergen was 41.9%, increasing by age. The children residing in the tangerine farming community showed significantly higher sensitization rates than those from non-farming one (47.5% vs. 38.4%, P=0.004). The former were sensitized more frequently to house dust mite, citrus red mite and Japanese cedar pollen, while the others to outdoor moulds. However, the prevalence of atopic disorders had no difference between the two groups.

Conclusion

The residential environment might influence the sensitization rates to prevalent aeroallergens in the environment among school children, but there is no difference in the prevalence of the atopic disorders.

References

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Table 1.
Composition of Mixture Aeroallergen
Grass pollen mixture
  Kentucky blue grass
  Meadow fescue
  Orchard grass
  Rye grass
  Timothy grass
  Velvet grass
Tree pollen mixture Ⅰ
  Alder
  Elm
  Hazel
  Poplar
  Willow
Tree pollen mixture Ⅱ
  Beech
  Birch
  Oak
  Plane tree
Animal hair Ⅰ
  Cat epithelia
  Dog epithelia
  Guinea pig epithelia
  Hamster epithelia
  Rabbit epithelia
Animal hair Ⅱ
  Cow epithelia
  Goat epithelia
  Horse epithelia
  Pig epithelia
  Sheep epithelia
Mould mixture Ⅰ
  Alternaria tenuis (Alternaria alternata)
  Botrytis cinerea
  Cladosporium herbarum
  Curvularia lunata
  Fusarium moniliforme
  Helminthosporium halodes
Mould mixture Ⅱ
  Aspergillus fumigatus
  Mucor mucedo
  Penicillium notatum
  Pullularia pullulans (Aureobasidium pull)
  Rhizopus nigricans
  Serpula lacrymans (Merulius lacrymans)
Table 2.
Comparison of Sensitization Rate to Aeroallergens by Study Population Characteristics
  Subjects n (%) Sensitization rate n (%) P -value aOR (95% CI)
Age (yr)     0.021  
  7–8 268 (25.7) 100 (37.3)   1
  9–10 402 (38.6) 160 (39.8)   1.10 (0.80–1.51)
  11–12 371 (35.6) 176 (47.4)   1.43 (1.04–1.98)
Gender     0.006  
  Female 520 (50.0) 196 (37.7)   1
  Male 521 (50.0) 240 (46.1)   1.41 (1.10–1.81)
Area     0.004  
  Non-tangerine 645 (62.0) 248 (38.4)   1
  Tangerine 396 (38.0) 188 (47.5)   1.43 (1.11–1.85)
Total 1041(100.0) 436 (41.9)    

aOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Sensitization rate: the number of the students showing positive reaction to more than one allergen.

Adjust value: sex, age, region.

Table 3.
Change of Sensitization Rate According to Age
Aeroallergens Age (yr) Total P -value
7 8 9 10 11 12
Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus 27.6 27.0 26.3 33.0 29.0 36.3 29.8 0.069
Dermatophagoides farinae 24.4 25.5 25.8 29.7 28.5 34.4 28.1 0.042
Tyrophagus putrescentiae 3.1 7.8 7.4 3.2 8.4 5.1 6.1 0.666
Cockroach 0.8 0.7 0.9 0.5 1.9 0.6 1.0 0.635
Citrus red mite 3.1 1.4 1.8 1.1 3.7 3.2 2.4 0.413
Japanese cedar 6.3 12.8 16.1 12.4 12.6 17.2 13.3 0.061
Hop Japanese 0.0 0.0 1.4 0.5 1.9 1.9 1.1 0.042
Mugwort 2.4 0.7 0.5 2.2 1.9 3.2 1.7 0.228
Ragweed 0.0 2.8 0.9 1.1 0.5 1.3 1.1 0.808
Animal hair I 0.8 0.7 0.9 0.5 1.4 1.3 1.0 0.501
Animal hair II 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.6 0.3 0.465
Mould mixture I 6.3 8.5 7.8 8.6 11.2 9.6 8.8 0.169
Mould mixture II 0.0 1.4 0.0 1.1 0.9 0.6 0.7 0.574
Tree pollen mixture I 0.0 0.7 0.0 1.6 1.9 1.3 1.0 0.062
Tree pollen mixture II 0.0 0.7 0.9 2.2 2.8 4.5 1.9 0.001
Grass pollen mixture 0.0 2.1 0.9 2.7 5.1 4.5 2.7 0.001
Sensitization rate 35.4 39.0 38.2 41.6 42.5 54.1 41.9 0.002

Values are presented as %.

P<0.05.

P<0.001

Table 4.
Comparison of Sensitization Rate to House Dust Mite and Mould Mixture 1 According to the Residential Environment
Area House dust mite Mould mixture Ⅰ
Sensitization rate, n (%) P -value aOR(95% CI) Sensitization rate, n (%) P -value aOR(95% CI)
Non-tangerine 189 (29.3) 0.009 1.00 80 (12.4) 0.000 4.67 (2.50–8.71)
Tangerine 147 (37.1) 1.42 (1.09–1.86) 12 (3.0) 1
total 336 (32.3)     92 (8.8)    

aOR, adjusted odds ratio; 95% CI, 95% confidence interval.

Sensitization rate: the number of the students showing positive reaction to more than one allergen.

Adjust value: sex, age.

Table 5.
Comparison of Sensitization Rate to Citrus Red Mite and Japanese Cedar According to the Residential Environment
Area Citrus red mite Japanese cedar
Sensitization rate, n (%) P -value aOR(95% CI) Sensitization rate, n (%) P -value aOR(95% CI)
Non-tangerine 7 (1.1) 0.000 1.00 67 (10.4) 0.000 1
Tangerine 18 (4.5) 4.10 (1.69–9.96) 71 (17.9) 1.89 (1.32–2.72)
Total 25 (2.4)     138 (13.3)    

aOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Sensitization rate: the number of the students showing positive reaction to more than one allergen.

Adjust value: sex, age.

Table 6.
Comparison of Prevalence of Allergic Diseases According to the Residential Environment
  Tangerine (n=520) Non-tangerine (n=770) Total (n=1,290) P -value
Wheeze, ever 87 (18.8) 107 (15.9) 194 (17.1) 0.197
Wheezing, last 12 mo 27 (5.9) 39 (5.8) 66 (5.8) 0.518
Diagnosis of asthma, ever 46 (10.0) 64 (9.4) 110 (9.7) 0.736
Treatment of asthma, last 12 mo 16 (3.5) 25 (3.7) 41 (3.6) 0.895
AR, ever 150 (32.6) 232 (34.5) 382 (33.7) 0.503
AR, last 12 mo 122 (27.1) 185 (28.2) 307 (27.7) 0.782
Diagnosis of AR, ever 88 (19.1) 130 (19.1) 218 (19.1) 0.991
Treatment of AR, last 12 mo 76 (16.6) 101 (14.9) 177 (15.6) 0.442
Itchy eczema, ever 103 (22.2) 164 (24.1) 267 (23.3) 0.459
Itchy eczema, last 12 mo 62 (13.5) 127 (18.7) 189 (16.6) 0.008
Diagnosis of AD, ever 140 (30.3) 181 (27.0) 321 (28.3) 0.222
Treatment of AD, last 12 mo 60 (13.3) 106 (16.0) 166 (14.9) 0.217

Values are presented as number (%).

AR, allergic rhinitis; AD, atopic dermatitis.

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