Allergy for cat and sources of the allergens in the urban versus rural areas of Poland

Abstract

642 Allergy for cat and sources of the allergens in the urban versus rural areas of Poland Liliana Trzpil, and Boleslaw Samolinski. Medical University of Warsaw, Prevention of the Environmental Hazards, Warsaw, Poland. Background: The aim is the comparison of a frequency of positive skin prick test for cat allergen, and the frequency of animal presence at home in various areas of Poland (rural versus urban). The presented data are a part of the earliest outcome of large epidemiological study in the field of allergies which is now run in Poland. Methods: Randomized probe of various polish populations differing in the age range (20Y44 13Y14, 6-7 years old) were included in to the study. Analyzed urban population was gathered in Warsaw (capital of Poland). The second selected region was Zamojszczyzna, being the typical rural area with low industrial density. 3833 respondents completed questionnaires ECRHS II and ISAAC (1596 at urban and 2237 at rural region). 1103 of them were subjected to medical examination directed towards allergy recognition, and had made a skin prick test (474 at the urban and 629 at rural region). Results: 65,5% of persons from urban area revealed the positive skin results (for at least one allergen), while of the rural one the prevalence was significantly lower and equal to 34,5% (p = 0.0001). An frequency of positive cat prick test is significantly higher for urban region when compared to the rural region (18,4% vs. 10.8), and the intensity of the reaction measured as the average diameter of the observed skin prick test bubble is also significantly higher (4,01 vs. 3,63 mm). It was found that a significant difference between urban and rural areas was observed for the cat frequency of presence at home 15% vs. 30%. This data can be also compared with the general frequency of the cat presence in the home and surrounding. For rural areas cat is present in about 59.8% of homes and surroundings, while in urban areas cat is present in 15.4% of homes and surroundings. About 50% of people with positive skin tests for cat have cat at home. In urban area these values are significantly lower and equal to 19.5%. Conclusion: For cat allergies one can observe that frequency of positive skin prick test is higher on the urban region than on the rural region, contrastively to the lower presence of the animal allergy sources. Additionally the frequency of cat presence in homes of sensitive persons is much higher in rural areas than in urban ones. This observation can lead to the conclusion of protective, immunotherapeutic role of the high environmental allergen concentration in rural region.