Neeraj Gupta, Mukesh Goyal, Ramakant Dixit, Mahima Agrawal, Manoj Meena, Rajveer Kuldeep
BACKGROUND Allergic diseases are important contributors of the overall disease burden worldwide. There is tremendous increase in the prevalence of allergic diseases in India in the last 30 years. India is country of diversity in climate, culture, vegetation and regional practices. The aim of this study was to find out the difference in allergen sensitization profile of patients with nasobronchial allergy between urban and rural area of residence. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study included 100 patients of nasobronchial allergy from central Rajasthan who were subjected to skin prick test with a battery of 127 allergen solutions. The pattern of positive prick test was recorded and analysed. The study was conducted over a period of one year. RESULTS The most common allergens in rural population were Insect (25.19%) and Dust allergen (17%) while in urban population it was House Dust Mite (30%). Apart from these, sensitization to animal dander (6%) and fungal allergen (3%) was more common in rural population while pollens (7.99%), feather (4.29%), kapok cotton (4.29%) and silk (4.29%) was more common in urban population. CONCLUSION Our study concludes that a knowledge of prevalent allergens in a particular geographical area may help in education of general precautions in patients with nasobronchial allergies. Although allergen profile between rural and urban population does not differ significantly, yet it was observed that in rural population 20.16% of SPT were positive in contrast to 7.48% in urban population. It clearly indicates that rural population suffers from multiple allergies and need more hygienic precautions than urban populations.
