Study of the sensitization to storage mites in a pediatric population in Barcelona.

We performed the following study in order to determine the prevalence and characteristics of sensitization to storage mites in children mostly from the city of Barcelona. All children over 3 years of age attending our unit for the first time due to respiratory problems were given cutaneous tests using the prick test for the house dust mites Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and D. farinae, and the storage mites Acarus siro, Lepidoglyphus destructor and Tyrophagus putrescentiae. We carried out a RAST and conjunctival test when it was considered appropriate. Of a total of 356 children studied, 39 showed cutaneous sensitization to storage mites, which represented 11% of the population studied, and 20% of the total sensitized to mites. However, only 3 of these children were only sensitized to storage mites, the remaining 36 (92%) also showing sensitization to house dust mites. Of the storage mites studied, L. destructor was the most significant. A history of immunotherapy to mites was associated with a greater percentage of positive cutaneous tests to storage mites, although this was not the case with the RAST test.