The effect of house dust mite sensitization on lung size and airway caliber in symptomatic and nonsymptomatic preadolescent children: a community-based study in Poland.

Abstract

There are conflicting reports on the effects of atopy on lung function. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of house mite (HM) atopy on lung function in subsamples of 12-year-old symptomatic and nonsymptomatic preadolescent children taken from the community sample. An additional objective of this study was to identify possible environmental determinants of HM skin reaction. We obtained questionnaire data on respiratory symptoms and skin-prick tests and performed spirometry on a subsample of 311 children of a birth cohort of children who have been followed over 3 years. Multivariate regression analysis showed progressive decrement of lung function indices (forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 sec, and forced expiratory flow, midexpiratory phase) with increasing degree of HM atopy reflected by the skin reaction to HM allergens. The apparent association between the level of HM atopy and the lung function indices was highly significant in symptomatic individuals but insignificant in nonsymptomatic subjects. HM sensitization was significantly associated with mother's atopy. It occurred predominantly in boys and was related to the use of coal or gas for house heating. The effect of allergen sensitization on lung size and airway caliber confined to symptomatic subjects may reflect the inflammatory status of bronchial airways in the symptomatic subjects.

Indoor allergens in settled dust from kindergartens in city of Łódź, Poland

“…Moreover, in one of the kindergartens (A), fur-covered animal (mainly the dog and the cat) allergens transported on clothing by the staff and children who have pets at home, as well as the cockroach allergens [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. In Poland, the scientific information about the concentration of indoor allergens present in the place where the children live and stay is very limited and refers mainly to the house dust mite allergens [15][16][17][18], and recently also to cat and dog allergens [19]. The main objective of the study was to determine the levels of allergens of the house dust mite (Der p1), dog (Can f1), cat (Fel d1) and cockroach -Blatella germanica (Bla g2) in kindergartens of different characteristics, localised in a big urban agglomeration, as well as to confirm their possible transport on children's clothing.…”

Indoor Environmental Quality Evaluation of Lecture Classrooms in an Institutional Building in a Cold Climate

“…Excluding comprehensive walkthrough investigations and measurements of physical and/or chemical indoor elements, some IEQ-related research collected occupants' responses to questions such as health issues, exposure data, and sensations, to a built environment through a questionnaire survey and provided acceptance or satisfaction criteria and health implications of a building's IEQ [28][29][30][31][32][33]. Several attempts have been made to conduct on-site standardized academic or physical tests, such as cognitive tests, spirometry tests, memory tests, and mathematics and reading tests, to evaluate how IEQ elements affect learning performance in elementary and middle school classrooms or productivity in offices [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Since ventilation is a critical parameter for indoor environmental performance, most research used experimental, modeling or field-testing methods to examine natural ventilation or natural ventilation combined with a simple fan system to observe the impacts of outdoor environmental parameters on IEQ [25,31,[42][43][44][45][46].…”