Quality of Housing and Allergy to Cockroaches in the Dominican Republic
- 1 January 1996
- journal article
- research article
- Published by S. Karger AG in International Archives of Allergy and Immunology
- Vol. 109 (1) , 68-72
- https://doi.org/10.1159/000237233
Abstract
Fifty-one atopic asthmatic and/or allergic rhinitic children and 23 nonatopic control from Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, were skin tested with an extract mix of three cockroach species (Blattella germanica, Blatta orientalis, and Periplaneta americana). Sixteen percent of the atopies and none of the non-atopies demonstrated positive immediate skin reactions to the cockroach mix (χ2 = 4.05, p = 0.04). Hypersensitivity was correlated with the quality of the homes; 22% (8/36) of the atopies who lived in a concrete home were skin test positive to the cockroach mix, while none (0/15) of the atopies who lived in a wood home were skin test positive (χ2 = 4.86, p = 0.03). Although the incidence of cockroach allergy in this study is lower than that found elsewhere, these data support the notion that, in this tropical environment, sensitization to cockroaches is associated with housing quality.Keywords
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