CONTINUOUS AVOIDANCE MEASURES WITH OR WITHOUT ACARICIDE IN DUST MITE-ALLERGIC ASTHMATIC-CHILDREN

Background: Improvement in the quality of life in the Western world an d increased time spent indoors by children have enhanced the spread of house dust mites and increased the exposure time for sensitive childr en. Also, exposure to house dust mites in infancy and subsequent devel opment of childhood asthma have been clinically linked. Recently, new acaricides have been developed. Objective: To test the efficacy of the new acaricide (esdepallethin and piperonyl butoxide-''Acardust'') com bined with environmental control compared with continuous house dust m ite avoidance measures. Method: Forty-six house dust mite-allergic, as thmatic children were evaluated for 6 months in a prospective, randomi zed, double-blind, and placebo-controlled study. Patients were randoml y allocated to active and placebo acaricide treatment combined with av oidance measures, whereas only continuous avoidance measures were take n in the third group. Symptom score, medication usage, and peak flow m easurements were recorded daily. The amount of house dust mite allerge n in the dust vacuumed from the bedrooms was also measured. Results: M orning and evening peak expiratory flow rates and forced expiratory vo lume in one second remained unchanged throughout the study period. In all groups, the symptom scores improved significantly, whereas the amo unt of house dust mite allergen decreased significantly at the end of the trial. Conclusions: Continuous house dust mite avoidance measures have a significant positive effect on the symptomology of children wit h mild or moderate asthma. ''Acardust'' combined with continuous house dust mite avoidance measures is not more effective than continuous ho use dust mite avoidance measures alone in the treatment of house dust mite-allergic, asthmatic children.