Article Sidebar
Published:
Dec 14, 2016Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
The effects of a single treatment of an acaricide, Acarosan, and a detergent, Metsan, on Der p 1 allergen levels in the carpets and mattresses of asthmatic children
Abstract
Baseline levels of the house-dust mite allergen, Der p 1, were measured on the carpets and mattresses of 60 pure-mite-sensitive asthmatic children in the Cape Peninsula, by means of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). High levels of mite allergens were recorded (range 2 - 50 µg Der p 1/g dust). In order to investigate the efficacy of the application of acaricides to carpets and bedding, 3 groups of 20 children were studied. Carpets and mattresses in group A were treated with a detergent, Metsan (Snowchem), and in group B with Metsan combined with the acaricide, Acarosan (Noristan). Group C was a control group in which no treatment was applied. The level of airway hyperreactivity (PC20) to histamine was measured at the beginning of the study and again 3 months after acaricide treatment. Significant reductions in carpet Der p 1 levels were achieved in group A (22,83 v. 13,26 µg Der p 1/g dust; P =0,04) and group B (21,76 v. 13,26 µg Der p 1/g dust; P =0,01), but mite levels were not reduced in any of the manresses treated. There was also no improvement in airway hyperreactivity in any of the groups. This study clearly demonstrates that at present it is not possible to reduce Der p 1 antigen levels in mattresses in the Cape Peninsula with the available acaricides, even when one of these is combined with a detergent solution.
