الفهرس 
MouldOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 130 |  |  |
| | | from | 130 | | |
Abstract
There are no published data on the prevalence of sensitization to different types of mould in Egypt. We sought to screen for mould sensitivity by skin prick testing in a group of Egyptian asthmatic children from the greater Cairo region in relation to clinical severity.
We consecutively enrolled 100 physician-diagnosed asthmatic children from the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Clinic, Children’s Hospital, Ain Shams University. The study measurements were performed in the same site during the period from February 2007 to January 2009. An informed consent was obtained from the parents or care-givers prior to enrollment.
Detailed history was taken for the duration and severity of symptoms, possible precipitating factors of asthma and mould exposure, and family history of allergy. A clinical examination was conducted to verify the diagnosis and exclude other clinical illness. The study measurements included skin prick testing with commercial mould allergen extracts of Alternaria, Asperagillus, Cladosporium, and Penicillium, as well as total serum IgE assay and absolute eosinophilic count.
SPT to any type of mould was positive in 45% of the studied sample. The results revealed that 38% of patients were sensitized to Alternaria, 42% were sensitized to Asperagillus, 42% were sensitized to Cladosporium, and 44% were sensitized to Penicillium. Although our study showed no statistical significance between the degree of asthma severity and mould sensitization and the type of mould strain tested probably due to relatively small sample size, mould sensitization is considered a major risk factor of asthma severity being more prevalent in moderate and severe persistent asthma patients.
Exposure to indoor mould showed highly significant relationship with mould sensitivity and with multiple mould sensitizations. Mould sensitization showed also a significant relationship with the history of other allergies. On the other hand, mould sensitization did not vary significantly with age, gender, residence, family atopy, and other common asthma precipitating factors. It also did not correlate with other laboratory and radiological investigations used.
To our knowledge, this is the first report on sensitization to different types of mould in Egyptian children. Our study has several limitations including the limited sample size and the fact that it does not represent the general population. Wider scale population-based multicenter screening studies are needed to assess the prevalence of mould sensitization and its clinical correlates in Egypt. The study shows relatively high rates of mould sensitization. Pediatric allergy specialists should be encouraged to apply health educational strategies for avoidance of mould.