The Reproducibility of Skin Prick Tests in Childhood Asthma

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Abstract
Thirty-eight children with chronic perennial asthma were skin prick tested with extracts of 17 common allergens at least once a year for a mean of 7 years. All had multiple responses, the response to house dust extract being positive in 95% of all the skin testing sessions. Over the whole follow-up period, the house dust response was consistently positive in 33 of the 38 children and positive in greater than 85% of sessions in 3 more. Consistent responses were noted to other major allergens though in less children. The mean wheal size reaction of the house dust extract and the mean number of skin prick test positive responses increased with age, reaching their peak near the end of puberty, a period of time when bronchial hyperresponsiveness is known to decrease. This study would support the suggestion that differing populations of mast cells in connective tissue and mucosae might account for the different patterns of response that occur in man.