Abstract
Thirty asthmatic children were given an intradermal skin test, total IgE measurements and the radioallergosorbent test (RAST) against house dust and house dust mites (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae). Results of the intradermal skin test and RAST were highly positive with overall agreement in 95.6%.
The correlation coefficient between the total IgE and the RAST to house dust was 0.35 (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between the total IgE and the RAST to D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae (p<0.05). The highly significant correlation coefficient between house dust and house dust mites (D. farinae, p<0.0001; D. pteronyssinus, p<0.00001) was determined by RAST. House dust has been found to be the most important allergen in children in Taiwan. The role of mites as a possible allergen in house dust also showed a highly significant correlation in our study.