Comparative evaluation for pollens and mite extract skin tests

A study of 105 subjects with a history of atopy was conducted. The skin test was used as screening method and the specific IgE as reference test. The results of the mite extract skin test were compared with those of pollens. For the same degree of skin reactivity, the relationship between the skin test and the specific IgE was highly significant for pollens (p less than 0.0005) but not for mite extract. Skin cross-reactivity between the mite extracts was highly significant (p less than 0.0005), and between the mite extracts and house dust extract (p less than 0.005). Reactivity against house dust and mite extracts was different (p less than 0.01) between the citizens and non-citizens suggesting inherent differences in the mite fauna of Kuwait. The most useful parameter for evaluating the results of the skin test was found to be the predictive value of a positive test.