DAMP HOUSING AND CHILDHOOD RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS - THE ROLE OF SENSITIZATION TO DUST MITES AND MOLDS

In 1990, a case-control study was conducted in the Netherlands into th e association between damp housing, childhood respiratory symptoms, an d sensitization to house dust mites and mold allergens. In this study, 259 children with chronic respiratory symptoms and 257 control childr en were involved, Total serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) and specific IgE against house dust mites and a mixture of molds were determined. A vis ual inspection for signs of home dampness was performed in all homes. A questionnaire was given to the parents of the children to elicit inf ormation about the presence of signs of dampness in the previous 2 yea rs and about risk factors for childhood respiratory disease. In the ca se group, 94 children had elevated serum IgE levels to house dust mite s and 24 children to the mixture of molds. In the control group, house dust mite allergy was found in 31 children and mold allergy in two ch ildren, In a crude analysis, cases were slightly more likely to have b een living in homes where damp or mold was reported or observed than w ere the controls. In cases as well as controls, home dampness was asso ciated with increased sensitization to dust mites and molds. There was no relation between home dampness and case-control status after strat ification for sensitization, however. Restriction of the analysis to c ases with elevated serum IgE levels against dust mites and/or molds, a nd to controls without elevated serum IgE, increased the odds ratios, and several became significant at p < 0.05. This supports a connection between damp housing and sensitization to dust mites and/or molds and childhood respiratory symptoms. Only five children were sensitized to molds without also being sensitized to dust mite allergen, It was the refore not possible to evaluate the role of sensitization to molds in the absence of sensitization to dust mites. For the circumstances stud ied in the Netherlands, the results suggest that sensitization to dust mites, and possibly mold allergen, plays an important role in the rel ation between living in a damp home and childhood respiratory symptoms .