Prevalence of allergens for allergic asthma in Xi'an

Objective: To survey common allergens for allergic asthma and to provide the basis for the prevention and treatment of allergic diseases in Xi'an. Methods: Skin prick test was conducted on 857 patients with allergic asthma who visited our department between January 2005 and June 2011 with common allergens of 14 kinds of inhalation and 7 kinds of ingestion. The positive rate of different allergens was compared among the patients of different gender and age. Results: The positive rate of inhaled allergens was the highest in dust mites, followed by house dust mite, mugwort, firmina, mildew, chenopodium, humulus, and grass. And the positive rate of ingestion allergens was the highest in shrimp, followed by crab, milk, and eggs. There was no significant difference in the positive rate of allergens except poplar between different genders. The allergen positive rate of dust mites and multivalent feathers was significantly higher in patients younger than 20 years old (P<0.05). Conclusion: Dust mite, house dust mite, mugwort, firmina, mildew, chenopodium, and humulus are the most important allergens in Xi'an. There is no gender difference in allergen positive rate. But the allergen positive rate is higher in those under 20 years old than in the other age groups.