Dominant Aero-Allergens in Allergic Rhinitis with Special Reference to Dust Mite Allergy and Skin Prick Test
.svg)
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is one of the commonest forms of allergy in the world which causes significant morbidity. The prevalence has all the more increased because of increasing air pollution. Though skin prick testing (SPT) and sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) have now been widely accepted worldwide as important tool, offering prospective long term remission or cure for allergic rhinitis yet some still debate the accuracy and efficacy of both. The commonest age group affected is 21–30 year group. Out of the total 37 patients of allergic rhinitis, who underwent SPT, 32 (86.5%) had a positive response and 05 (13.5%) patients had a negative response. Out of the 32 patients with positive response, 30 (93.8%) had positive reactions to multiple allergens and just 2 (6.2%) had positive reaction to single allergen. The commonest aeroallergen detected by SPT was house dust mite (bed mite) Dermatophagoides (D)-pteronyssinus, and another house dust mite (floor mite), D-farinae, followed by Blomia, another floor mite. Out of the 32 SPT positive cases 10 (31.3%) patients opted for SLIT, after knowing the pros and cons. It can be concluded from this preliminary study that there is no doubt that SPT is a very informative confirmatory test for diagnosing allergens causing allergic rhinitis. SLIT has a good acceptance in the allergic rhinitis patients and out of ten all of the patients reported significant symptomatic improvement. This allergen mapping in this area is probably the first of its kind, which will help in deciding future strategies in management of AR, by immunotherapy or avoidance measures. In future many more patients may get benefit of long term cure from it.
