[Different age of asthmatic patients affected by different aeroallergens]

A total of 1070 cases of bronchial asthma, aged from 3 to 70 years, were analyzed for their hypersensitivity to the four most common aeroallergens, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, German cockroaches, Penicillium notatum and Candida albicans. The severity of hypersensitivity was classified as mild, moderate and severe based on the concentration of allergen specific IgE in the sera. Results showed that there were 77.9% patients allergic to D. pteronyssinus, 40.0% to G. cockroaches, 9.6% to P. notatum and 10.4% to C. albicans. The incidence and severity varied with age. For D. pteronyssinus, the highest incidence was 96.8% with the age between 11 and 20 years. Seventy percent of them were severe hypersensitivity. For P. notatum, the highest incidence was 18.9% with the age above 61 years. None of them were severe hypersensitivity and 11.9% of them were moderate hypersensitivity. For C. albicans, the highest incidence was 27.3% with the age between 51 and 60 years. All of them were mild hypersensitivity. For G. cockroaches, the highest incidence was 55.4% with the age between 21 and 30 years. 76.8% of them were mild hypersensitivity and 23.2% were moderate hypersensitivity. We concluded that different age of asthmatic patients affected by different aeroallergens. D. pteronyssinus was the most potent aeroallergen. Most asthmatic patients sensitized by mite were severe, particularly those patients with the age below 20 years of age.