title: Mite hypersensitivity in patients with rhinitis and rhinosinusitis living in a tropical environment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Rhinitis and rhinosinusitis are major concerns in public health. Mites are important aetiological agents in the tropics. The present study investigated the in vivo response to mite allergens in patients with rhinitis and rhinosinusitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients with presumptive nasal allergy were included. Skin tests were done with inhalants and mite extracts. Patients were classified as allergic or non-allergic according to skin tests and history.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 229 patients, 175 (76.4%) showed positive skin tests. Allergic patients showed positivity to mites in 97.1% of cases, 51.4% to dog dander; 40.5% to cat dander; 36.5% to German cockroach; 22.8% to moulds; and 21.1% to grass pollens. Dermatophagoides farinae induced responses in 90.8% of patients, D. pteronyssinus in 90.1%, Blomia tropicalis in 74.8%, Glycyphagus domesticus in 62.2%, Chortoglyphus arcuatus in 58.2%, Acarus siro in 46.2%, Lepidoglyphus destructor in 35.4%, and Tyrophagus putrescentiae in 35.0%. Higher correlations were found between skin test diameters induced by mites from the same family.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sensitisation to inhalant allergens is present in 76% of allergy clinics' patients with rhinitis or rhinosinusitis. Our results confirm previous observations showing that mites constitute the most important cause of respiratory allergy in tropical settings and suggest that mite allergen cross-reactivity is responsible for the positivity of skin tests to mites not present in the patient's environment since the species Glycyphagus, Chortoglyphus, Acarus, Lepidoglyphus and Tyrophagus have not been found in Caracas house dust.
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department, Centro Médico-Docente La Trinidad, Caracas, Venezuela; Clínica El Avila, Caracas, Venezuela. Electronic address: sanchezbmario@gmail.com.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Borges
authors.affiliation: Inmunotek, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: efcaldas@inmunotek.com.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fernández-Caldas
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department, Centro Médico-Docente La Trinidad, Caracas, Venezuela; Centro Médico de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela. Electronic address: arnaldocapriles@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Capriles-Hulett
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department, Centro Médico-Docente La Trinidad, Caracas, Venezuela; Centro Médico de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela. Electronic address: fernancaballerofonseca@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caballero-Fonseca
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D039981:Pyroglyphidae / Q000276:immunology*; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D012882:Skin Tests; D014329:Tropical Climate; D055815:Young Adult