MITE FAUNA, DER-P-I, DER-F-I AND BLOMIA-TROPICALIS ALLERGEN LEVELS INA TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT

Fifty dust samples were collected from the mattresses and bedroom floo rs of 25 subjects with allergic asthma in Cartagena, Colombia, in orde r to identify house dust mites and quantitate Der p I, Der f I and Blo mia tropicalis allergens. The geometric mean of the total mite density per gram of dust was 418 (range, 40-2280). Twenty-two samples (44%) h ad more than 500 mites and four, less than 100. B. tropicalis and Derm atophagoides pteronyssinus were found in 96% and 90% of the samples, a ccounting for 40.1% and 35.7% of the total mites, respectively. Cheyle tus malaccensis, Chortoglyphus arcuatus, Pyroglyphus africanus, Oribat ids, Grallacheles bakeri, Tarsonemus spp., Suidasia spp., Dermatophago ides farinae and unidentified mites accounted for the rest. The geomet ric mean of the total mites/gram of dust in mattresses (563.9) was sig nificantly higher than in floor dust (309.1), P < 0-01. Allergen conce ntrations and mite numbers were analysed by Spearman rank correlations : B. tropicalis mites vs B. tropicalis allergen, r = 0.54, P < 0.001; D. pteronyssinus mites vs Der p I, r = 0.52, P < 0.001. A negative cor relation was obtained between B. tropicalis mites and Der p I. Allerge ns derived from B. tropicalis and other domestic mite species may play an important role in sensitization and allergic symptoms in Cartagena , Colombia.