The nature of asthma in Brisbane

Clinical details and skin prick test reactions are described for 183 asthmatic patients who attended an asthma clinic at the Royal Brisbane Hospital in 1976. These features were compared with similar studies reported from London, Sydney, Tristan da Cunha and New Guinea. Asthma in Brisbane was shown to be similar in many ways to asthma in those centres; however, a higher frequency of positive immediate skin test reactions to antigens of A. fumigatus, a larger percentage of skin test-negative patients developing symptoms before the age of 10 years, and a lack of association between the age of onset of symptoms and number of positive skin tests was noted. A difference in mean weal diameter (in mm) on skin testing with house dust mite antigens was not found between patients giving a history of sensitivity to these antigens and those that did not. A seasonal increase in symptoms was only described by 27% of patients.