Siti Nadzrah Y, Zulkiflee AB and Prepageran N
Abstract Objectives: The purpose of this study primarily was to determine and characterise the common allergens found using skin prick test both in Malaysia and the Netherlands. Study Design: This is retrospective cross-sectional descriptive study which the data was collected from two different hospitals. Methodology: The study population included patients with history of atopy and / or diagnosed with any forms of allergy, mainly nasal allergy that were referred for skin prick test. Results: In 284 respondents, the Asians showed significantly (p<0.001) higher percentage of positive response towards most of the subgroups of aeroallergen especially house dust mite (82.4%) as compared to the Europeans (41.2%). More than half (84.3%) of the Asian population had positive test responses to one or more aeroallergens and the highest prevalence was for house dust mite, 69% - 78% (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoides farinae and Blomia sp.) followed by cat fur (40.6%) and Alternaria sp. (38.2%). Even the European has higher prevalence of positive response towards house dust mite subgroup (24.7%) in comparison with fungi and epidermals with 3.9% and 8.8% respectively (p<0.001). However, the prevalence for both Bermuda grass and grain pollen (20.9%) in Europe were more or less the same with house dust mite, 21% - 25% (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae). The least frequent aeroallergen for both Asia and Europe was dog hair (30.6% and 1.7% respectively). Conclusions: House dust mites are the most common aeroallergens in the two different regions.