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Do mite avoidance measures affect mite and cat airborne allergens?
F Carswell1, J Oliver, J Weeks
1Institute of Child Health, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Bristol, UK.
Background:
Effective mite allergen avoidance measures are presumed to reduce airborne allergens yet the quantity in the air is rarely measured.
Objective:
To monitor airborne allergen during a placebo-controlled mite allergen avoidance study.
Methods:
Bedrooms of 56 atopic asthmatic children were randomly allocated to hot washing and encasing covers + acaricide (active regime) or placebo treatment. Dust was collected from the mattress, bedding and carpets; airborne allergen was measured using Casella samplers and dust settling in open Petri dishes. Der p 1, Der p 2 and Fel d 1 were measured.
Results:
After 24 weeks of mite allergen avoidance the Casella air-samplers collected Der p 1 less frequently in active than placebo-treated bedrooms (0 vs. 29%, P<0.05) and Petri dishes in the active group collected less than baseline (0.2 vs. 0.6 ng/day P<0.05). Homes without cats had less cat allergen than cat-owning homes and when actively treated for 24 weeks showed a greater reduction (P = 0.03) in mattress cat allergen than the placebo group.
Conclusion:
Encasing covers and hot washing of bed linen reduced mite aeroallergen (and mattress cat allergen in the absence of cats). This could mean dual benefits to a patient sensitive to both mite and cat.
