[Short communication: prevalence of fungal allergy in patients applied to hospital with symptoms of atopic disease in Kocaeli, Turkey].

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of fungal sensitization and to detect the IgE and eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP) levels in the positive cases inhabiting in Kocaeli province (located in Northwest region of Turkey). The results of mixed fungus tests of 1.799 patients (870 male, 929 female) ages between 3-80 years old who were admitted to Kocaeli University Medical Faculty Hospital in the period of January 2002-January 2005, with the symptoms of atopic disease such as upper/lower respiratory tract symptoms, asthma and/or rhinitis and/or eczema, were evaluated retrospectively. Serum IgE and ECP levels of all cases were determined by a commercial enzyme immunoassay (UniCAP System, Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden) method. The allergy test performed by using mixed fungal panel (Penicillium notatum, Cladosporium herbarum, Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, Alternaria alternata, Helminthosporium halodes) was found positive in 68 cases (3.8%). Of those cases 7 (10.2%) were found to be sensitized to Alternaria alternata, 8 (11.7%) to Aspergillus fumigatus, 10 (14.7%) to Penicillium notatum, and 6 (8.8%) were sensitized to more than one fungus. The mean IgE (106.2+/-166.1) and ECP levels (31.7+/-18.3) of fungus sensitized cases were found significantly higher than the non-sensitized subjects (IgE; 77.8+/-95.0, ECP; 22.4+/-16.5) (p<0.001). The prevalence rates of fungal allergy in our region were determined as 1.9% (26/1.341), 4.5% (2/44) and 9.6% (40/414) in pediatric, adolescent and adult populations, respectively. In conclusion, it was determined that the rate of the sensitization against fungi was low in Kocaeli, Turkey and it exhibited a tendency towards increase with age.