A Survey on the Bεe Venom Allergy in Children of a Rural Area

As the first step to evaluate the prevalence of bee venom allergy in Korea , a basic survey was done in 668 elementary school children (341 boys and 327 girls) of a rural area in Chungcheong province. History takings and skin tests showed the following results 1. 448 chiloren (67.1%, 229 boys and 219 girls) had previous history of bee sting, and 16 children (2.4 %, 9 boys and 7 girls) had experienced systemic reactions after bee sting, which were regarded as bee venom allergy. 2. In children with bee venom allergy, there was no significant difference between ages or sexes and no remarkable personal history of atopic diseases. 3. The symptoms of bee venom allergy were generalized urticaria angioedema and dizziness probably due to vascular collapse. The sting site were extremities, head and neck and abdomen etc. in decreasing frequency. All the responsible bees belonged to Vespoidea 4. Skin tests were perfermed in 9 children using 1% whole body extract of honeybee (Apis mellifera). and positive reactions were showed in 6. But it was not clear that this meant the cross'allergenecity between bee species

Immunotherapy with Tyrosine-adsorbed Vaccine of House Dust Mite in Respiratory Allergies

House dust mite (HDM) as a major antigen in the house dust is one of the most important offending allergens in bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis. In Korea, Cho et al. found Dermatophagoldes farinae(53.6%) and D. pteronyssinus in house dust, which are the main species of house dust mites responsible for respiratory allergy in many countries (1977). Kang et al. reported that 26% of respiratory allergic patient in Korea have positive skin reaction to the extract of D. pteronyssinus in prick test (1979). Because the avoidance of house dust mites is practically impossible, the hyposensitization treatment (immunotherapy) may be the only effective radical treatment. To evaluate the efficacy of the hyposensitization treatment in HDM sensitized respiratory allergies, we tried it to 35 patients (18 bronchiala sthma patients, 8 allergic rhinitis patients and 9 combined cases) with a tyrosine-adsorbed glycerinated extract of D. pteronyssinus, and the following results were obtained. L As a whole, the efficacy of the treatment was substantial in 10 patients (28.6%) and fair in 17 patients (48.6%), so about 77% of the studied subjects had significant symptomatic reliefs. 2. In relation to the disease entity, the efficacy of the treatment was substantial in 6 of 18 bronchial asthma patients and 2 of allergic rhinitis patients. 3. The shorter the duration of the disease is, the more excellent the efficacy of treatment resulted. If the duration less than 1 year, 40% of the patients had substantial effect and if it was more than 11 years, no patients got such effect. 4. Almost all of the patients with substantial effect are below 30 years of age, indicating better effect in younger age. 5. Seasonal relationship of the symptom & sex difference had no significant relationship with the efficacy of the treatment

Serum Ig E Level in Koreal Sound Controls and Bronchial Asthmatics

Total serum IgE level were determined in 83 Korean sound controls (male 38, female 45) and 250 bronchial asthmatics (male 136, female 114) who had not been treated with hyposensitization. The patients were divided into two small groups, i. e. group (a) with asthma only and group (b) with other coexistent atopic diseases. IgE in serum was measured by the radioimmunosorbent technique using the kits of Phadebas~ and following results were obtained. 1. In both control and asthma group, the frequency distributions of the serum IgE levels were continuous ut not normal. 2. In control group, the serum IgE levels ranged from 8 to 475 I.U./ml and the mean and the standard deviation was 151±1l4 I.U./ml (male 151±124, female 152±105). There were no differences between sexes or age groups 3. In patients group, the serum levels ranged from 33 to 7,200 I.U./ml and the mean and S.D. were 1401 ±1412I.U./ml (male 1682±1420, female 1073±1217). The levels of male patients were higher than those of females. but the reasons were uncertain. 4. No significant differences were found between the serum IgE levels in group(a) and those in group (b). 5. The serum IgE level higher than 400I. U./ml was thought to be significantly raised and such levels were found in 4.8% of sound controls and in 74% of total asthma patients. In the laller, the allergic bases may play major roles in the pathogenesis of the disease G. Significantly raised serum IgE levels were found in 93% of the asthma patients under 10 years of age, indicating the high prevalence of allergic asthma in childhood

Epidemiological, Immunological, and Clinical Profiles of Allergic Disea ses in Korea

The epidemiological, immunological, and clinical features were analized in allergic patients visiting the allergy clinic of Seoul National University Hos· pital during last 5 years. 75.9% of the patients had respiratory allergies, 10.1% had cutaneous allergies. 11. 2% had both respiratory and cutaneous allergies. and 2.8% had anaphylaxis or allergies of other organs. Classifying respiratory allergies into intrinsic and extrinsic allergies by disease history and skin reaction to inhalant allergens, the former constituted 49.6% and the latter 50.4% (perennial, 46.6%, seasonal, 3.8%) The mean age of the patients with extrinsic res~ piratory allergies was lower than that of those with intrinsic allergies especially in males. There were atopic family histories in 23.5% of total patients Serum total IgE levels were increased in 68% of patients with extrinsic respiratory allergies, in 39% of those with intrinsic respiratory allergies, and in 50% of those with cutaneous allergies The inhalant allergens showing the most frequent positive skin reaction were those of house dust mites and house dus t. Other common allergens included those of cockroach, hay dust , cat , etc. However skin reactions to some allergens were not correlated with disease histories. Allergies to pollens or molds did not exceed 3% of the causes of rhinitis or asthma. Food allergens such as buckwheat and pupa seemed unique in Korea. The air-borne pollen survey in Seoul area revealed that the tree season was from mid-March to late· June, the grass season from late-March to late·Octover, and the weed season from Mid·June to late-November. Immunotherapy has been performed in more than 600 patients with respiratory allergies. Besides sym ptornatic improvement, most patients became less sensitive in skin test to offending allergens. The skin test reactivity may be an objective parameter indio eating the efficacy of immunotherapy during the maintenance cours

Serum Folliculin Is Related to Lower Pulmonary Function in Patients With Asthma

Serum Folliculin Is Related to Lower Pulmonary Function in Patients With Asthm