title: [Frequency of sensitization to animals in a tropical area].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pet avoidance is commonly recommended to allergic patients, even if an IgE-mediated sensitization has not been demonstrated. This management is difficult to accomplish by patients with emotional attachment to their pets and the effectiveness is controversial.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the sensitization to different animals among patients with asthma, rhinitis, conjunctivitis and/or dermatitis. To assess the sensitization to different animals among patients with asthma, rhinitis, conjunctivitis and/or dermatitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was performed with 300 previously reported patients with asthma, rhinitis, conjunctivitis and/or dermatitis; we organized two groups: Group 1 included patients who were tested skin sensitization to both dog and cat. Group 2 was comprised of all patients with skin testing droppings or feathers of birds (canary, parrot, pigeon or hen).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sensitization to cat and especially to dog was high (7% and 47%, respectively). The co-sensitization to dog was high among patients sensitized to cat (85%). Sensitization to other epithelia (horse, hamster, rabbit, cow) was low. About birds, there was a greater sensitization to proteins contained in the feces than in the feathers, pigeon sensitization was the most frequent. We observed no differences in the pattern of sensitization among patients according to age, gender or allergic symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of co-sensitization with cat and dog was high, which may be explained by shared proteins between the two species as lipocalins. About birds, the proteins in pigeon droppings were the main cause of sensitization; however, it does not seem to share cross-reactivity with other birds and the frequency was relatively low compared with epithelia allergens.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Alergología Clínica y Experimental (GACE). Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia. Fundación para el Desarrollo de las Ciencias Médicas y Biológicas (Fundemeb), Cartagena, Colombia. Instituto de Investigaciones Inmunológicas (III), Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia. jotamsc@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Diez
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cardona
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057805:Pets; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014330:Tropical Medicine; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Allergy; Cat; Dog; Horse; Pets; Pigeon; Poultry; Sensitization