Allergy to cockroach antigens in asthmatic patients.

Cockroach allergy was investigated in a group of 56 patients with atopic bronchial asthma (37 men and 19 women with ages ranging from 16 to 65) all allergic to house dust antigen. In all patients, both intracutaneous tests and bronchial provocation tests were performed with cockroach antigen prepared from the species most common in Poland, Blattella germanica and Blatta orientalis. Positive skin reactions to cockroach antigen were found in 17 patients while an immediate bronchoconstrictive response was noted in 11. In the authors opinion, cockroach antigens may be partly responsible for the antigenic properties of house dust and may play a causative role in some cases of atopic asthma.