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Background: It is known that allergic sensitization is the most important risk factor in children for asthma as well as for rhinitis. It is likely that subjects genetically prone to sensitization require prolonged exposure to an allergen for development of symptoms of respiratory allergy.
Objective: We examined the sensitization profile among preschool-aged children living in or nearby Ankara for at least six months.
Methods: Our study group was comprised of all pediatric patients referred for respiratory symptoms to our outpatient department between May 2003 and May 2005. Among the 2680 patients referred who were under five years of age, we found 1480 patients who had a history of recurrent wheezing within this study population. We included 588 pre- school-aged children with aeroallergen sensitization on skin prick tests (SPT) in this analysis.
Results: Allergy to house dust mites (HDM, 46.3%) was the most prevalent sensitization, followed by allergy to pollens, Alternaria, cockroach and cats (29.9%, 7.9%, 2.8% and 1.6%, respectively) in the entire population. Among our patients, 58.1% had monoallergy and 41.9% had allergy to two or more allergens on SPT. Monosensitization rates in children with asthma, asthma with rhinitis and rhinitis were found as 79.1%, 14.1% and 6.7%, respectively.
Conclusion: For preschool-aged children in this region, the most common allergen is HDM and the major allergen related to asthma \s Alternaria. Our study may suggest that allergic airway inflammation starts at a very early stage in childhood asthma.