Aero and Food Allergens Sensitization Patterns in a Clinic-Based Sample in Pakistan: A One Year Retrospective Study
Aero and Food Allergens Sensitization Patterns in a Clinic-Based Sample in Pakistan: A One Year Retrospective Study
Abid Hussain1,2, Farida Ahmed3, Shyamali C. Dharmage4, Shafiq ur Rehman1, Muhammad Shahbaz Aslam5 and Zaigham Abbas1,*
ABSTRACT
Sensitization to different allergens may lead to chronic clinical conditions like asthma and allergic rhinitis. Present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of food and aero-allergen sensitization patterns. This retrospective study was designed to study allergy patients attending Allergy Centre, National Institute of Health, Islamabad. All enrolled patients were screened for set of allergens using skin prick test (SPT). Based on results of SPT, out of total 50550 allergen sensitized patients, 89.28% had aero-allergen sensitization while remaining 10.72% had food sensitization. Significantly higher prevalence of both aero- and food allergen sensitization was observed among males (p<0.05) within sensitized population. The prevalence of allergen sensitization within sensitized population was highest in 31-40 years age group with significant variation across different age groups (p<0.05). Among sensitized population, allergic rhinitis was most prevalent disease (41.57%) followed by bronchial asthma (25.68%) while allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma at the same time were 3.9% prevalent. This study revealed a huge number of patients with diverse demographics, suffering from allergic diseases and sensitization to different allergens majorly aero allergens indicating poor indoor and outdoor air quality. This demands more public health facilities, and strict environmental regulations of air quality to manage allergic diseases in Pakistan.
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August 2019
Vol. 51, Iss. 4, Pages 1203-1598
