Allergic conjunctivitis in Jos-Nigeria

Abstract

Background:Allergic conjunctivitis (AC) may follow seasonal or perennial pattern. There are climatic and racial risk factors involved in some types of AC. It is more prevalent in warm climatic conditions and among Afro-Caribbeans, Arabs and Asians and less among the White populations. Clinical presentations also seem to follow climatic and genetic predisposition. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of AC and its clinical presentations in a hospital setting in this region in people of all ages.Materials and Methods:This is a hospital-based retrospective study of new patients seen at Adoose Specialist Hospital, Jos the capital city of Plateau State in North Central Nigeria with clinical diagnosis of AC from 2000 to 2009.Results:There were 972 subjects, 474 (48.8%) males and 498 (51.2%) females with M:F ratio of 1:1.05. The most common symptom was itching followed by redness, pains, watery/mucoid discharge, sticky eyes, puffy eyes and photophobia. The presence of papillae in the upper tarsal or lower conjunctiva, a discrete or confluent gelatinous hypertrophy of the limbal conjunctiva (Trantas dots), hyperpigmentation, hyperemia/chemosis of the conjunctiva were the common signs. AC was more prevalent in those aged 1−16 years 38.4% decreasing to 4.9% in the age group above 50 years. The presentation followed perennial pattern, with a peak around July. The most prevalent ocular comorbid condition was refractive error (distant RE and presbyopia) in 15.4%, followed by pterygium/pinguecula 3.6%, bacterial conjunctivitis in 2.2%, glaucoma 2.1% and eyelid disorders 1.7%. Cataract was present in 1.3%, and keratopathy 1.1%. Other conditions such as episcleritis, dry eye, vitamin A deficiency and posterior segment disease were also present in decreasing order. Systemic association were few with generalised body atopy in 0.3%.Conclusion:The prevalence of AC was 32% and is similar to what pertains in some of the African hospital studies, but differs in presentation from the Caucasians.

Correlation of Features of Allergic Rhinitis and Allergic Conjunctivitis with Treatment Modalities

“…The usual presentation of AC includes bilateral intense itching, lacrimation, redness, swollen eyelids, burning sensation with photophobia. [7,8] These are similar to what was found in our patients. The eye features and the treatment offered to our patients are highlighted in Table 1.…”

“…AC when co-existed with AR and allergic is referred to as Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis. [6,8] An allergic Rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis disorder follow a pattern of seasonal and perennial forms, although, the pattern of nasal symptoms is mostly of perennial type with a peak incidence during the dry season while the pattern of ocular symptoms is mostly of seasonal type with a peak incidence during the rainy season. [9,10] Correlating the nasal and eye features of our patients revealed that Eye itching was found to be higher among those with nasal blockage, sleep disturbance, post nasal drip, and nasal polyps( Table 6).…”

Immunoblotting Technique Versus Skin Prick Test for Detection of Allergen Specific Immunoglobulin E in Allergic Conjunctivitis

“…Our study revealed slight predominance of male patients (53.1%) which is lower than that reported by Nagrale and coworkers 15 (82.5%). While female preponderance was reported by Kosrirukvongs et al 13 and also by Malu 16 as 51.2% females among patients with allergic conjunctivitis. Regarding SPT pattern of sensitization, in the present study all allergic patients showed polysensitization pattern for at least 6 allergens.…”

Prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis among basic school children in the Kumasi Metropolis (Ghana): a community-based cross-sectional study

“…Allergic conjunctivitis was diagnosed by symptoms of bilateral itchiness and either burning sensation, tearing, ropy/clear mucinous discharge, or photophobia. The ocular signs hinged on the presence of at least two of these: papillae, redness, brownish limbal hyperpigmentation, visible limbal tranta spots and chemosis [ 22 , 24 ].…”

“…While there is a preponderance of hospital-based prevalence studies of AC in Ghana [ 20 , 21 ] and Africa [ 22 , 23 ], the same could possibly not be said of community-based studies. Accordingly, this study, virtually the first Ghanaian community-based studies, had the purpose of determining the prevalence of AC among basic school children in the Kumasi Metropolis together with identifying its main presenting symptoms.…”