Cat allergen (Fel d 1) levels on school children's clothing and in primary school classrooms in Wellington, New Zealand☆,☆☆,★,★★
Section snippets
METHODS
Ten primary schools from the Wellington city area were contacted initially by telephone and subsequently by letter and asked to participate in a study to quantitate Fel d 1 levels on classroom floors and on the clothing of 7- to 9-year-old children. One school declined to participate because of concerns that the large number of ethnic groups in the school would make obtaining genuinely informed consent difficult. Before our visit to the school, written consent was obtained from each child's
RESULTS
Floor samples were collected from eleven classrooms in nine primary schools. Questionnaire information and garment dust were collected from 191 of the 274 children eligible to participate in the study (70% response rate). Eleven additional children, from another classroom from which no floor sample was available, were also sampled. These 11 samples were included in the clothing analysis, providing a total sampled number of 202 garments, but were excluded from the floor correlation analysis.
DISCUSSION
Fel d 1 is widespread throughout the environment, being readily detectable in places where no cats are present. Our findings confirm extremely high cat ownership in New Zealand, as reported recently.3
Children from homes with cats carry significant amounts of allergen on their clothes (mean Fel d 1, 6.1 μg per garment), with wool and polyester garments containing greater amounts than cotton clothing. There may be differences in the frequency of laundering these garments because it is likely that
Acknowledgements
We thank Kristin Wickens, Rob Siebers, and other members of the Wellington Asthma Research Group for assistance and the schools and children involved in the study for their willing cooperation.
References (21)
Risk factors for indoor allergen exposure [review]
Respir Med
(1994)- et al.
High mite-allergen exposure increases the risk of sensitization in atopic children and young adults
J Allergy Clin Immunol
(1989) - et al.
Allergens in school dust, I: the amount of the major cat (Fel d I) and dog (Can f I) allergens in dust from Swedish schools is high enough to probably cause perennial symptoms in most children with asthma who are sensitized to cat and dog
J Allergy Clin Immunol
(1993) - et al.
Measurement of airborne mite antigen in homes of asthmatic children
Lancet
(1990) - et al.
Mite allergen (Der p 1) on children's clothing [letter]
J Allergy Clin Immunol
(1996) - et al.
Epidemiology of acute asthma: IgE antibodies to common inhalant allergens as a risk factor for emergency room visits
J Allergy Clin Immunol
(1989) - et al.
Asthma in seven year old children: a report from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Child Development Study
N Z Med J
(1982) - et al.
International comparison of the prevalence of asthma symptoms and bronchial hyperresponsiveness
American Review of Respiratory Disease
(1988) - et al.
Childhood asthma in four countries: a comparative survey
Int J Epidemiol
(1994) - et al.
Changes in asthma prevalence: two surveys 15 years apart
Arch Dis Child
(1989)
Cited by (0)
- ☆
From Wellington Asthma Research Group, Department of Medicine, Wellington School of Medicine, Wellington South, New Zealand.
- ☆☆
Supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, the Wellington Medical Research Foundation, the Marjorie Barclay Trust, and the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand.
- ★
Reprint requests: Penny Fitzharris, MD, Department of Medicine, Wellington School of Medicine, PO Box 7343, Wellington South, New Zealand.
- ★★
1/1/84673