The house-dust mite and childhood asthma in the Cape Peninsula.

Sensitivity to house-dust and the mites Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and D. farinae was the commonest cause of asthma in children living in the Cape Peninsula. Of 103 asthmatic children examined, 65,5% had positive skin tests to these allergens. Only a small number of the children were sensitive to pollens, feathers, moulds or food. The median serum IgE level was 496 U/ml, with a range of 18-15972 U/ml, and the median blood eosinophil count was 691/microliter (range 93-8 159) in 102 of the children.