Quantitative assessment of exposure to dog (Can f 1) and cat (Fel d 1) allergens: Relation to sensitization and asthma among children living in Los Alamos, New Mexico☆,☆☆,★
Section snippets
Subjects
Approval for the study was obtained from the school board and administration of the Los Alamos, N.M., school system, the University of Virginia Human Investigation Committee, and the Los Alamos Medical Center. Phase I of the study consisted of enrollment of 567 children (12 to 14 years old) in the seventh and eighth grades at Los Alamos Middle School during 1 week of March 1992. An in-school respiratory questionnaire was administered to all consenting children, and a similar questionnaire was
Exposure to indoor allergens
The homes of 109 children were visited and dust samples were assayed for dog, cat, dust mite, and cockroach allergens. The levels of dog and cat allergens were very high, in keeping with the fact that dogs were present in 65 homes and cats were present in 44 homes (Fig. 1). At least four samples of dust were obtained from each house, and in keeping with previous reports the values shown are the highest level found. At least 10 μg Can f 1 per gram of dust was found in 65% of the homes, and at
DISCUSSION
Our results showed that of the homes sampled in Los Alamos, 50% had more than 8 μg of cat allergen per gram of dust, whereas 65% had more than 10 μg dog allergen per gram. By contrast, only 4% and 2% had significant levels of dust mite or cockroach allergen, respectively. A threshold level for cat allergen has been proposed previously.12 Threshold levels for dog allergen have not been proposed. From our results it is clear that at least 95% of the houses with a dog have more than 10 μg/gm of
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Jim Sussman, Marlene Muller, and Debbie Claytor for their help and hospitality in Los Alamos. We are grateful to Nicolle Couture for technical assistance and to Lisa Vailes for helpful laboratory advice, to David Jeffus and Nancy Malone for preparing the manuscript, and to Madeleine Watkins for preparing the figures. In addition, we are grateful to Dr. Jonathan Samet for suggesting Los Alamos as a site for the study.
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Cited by (0)
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From aUniversity of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Asthma and Allergic Diseases, Charlottesville; bRespiratory Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London; and cLos Alamos Medical Center.
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Supported by National Institutes of Health grants AI-20565 and U01-AI-34607.
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Reprint requests: Thomas A.E. Platts-Mills, MD, PhD, UVA Health Sciences Center, Asthma and Allergic Diseases Center, Box 225, Charlottesville, VA 22908.