Eviction of airborne allergens for the household environment

Exposure to allergens could be either a risk factor of sensitization and no nspecific hyperresponsiveness in genetically predisposed patients or a risk of onset of asthma attack in certain allergic asthma. During the past 20 y ears, in western countries the houses have become tigher and the number of furred pets have increased and have been more kept inside the house which m akes probable that exposure to indoor aeroallergen has increased. The devel opment of new methods of allergen measurements allows a more precise identi fication of allergen source and reservoirs, an assessment of allergen expos ure and a monitoring of allergen eviction methods. Concerning mite allergens, controlled studies which showed a clinical effic acy are those with a global mite eviction and at least a 6 months follow-up . for cat and dog allergens, high efficiency filters air cleaners or vacuum -cleaners are able to reduce airborne car or dog allergen levels. According to the increasing number of papers about allergen eviction, it se ems logical to propose allergen eviction as "first line treatment" of aller gic asthma. In the future, it would be interesting to develop biological ma rkers to identify more accurately patients who have a clinical improvement after allergen eviction.