Article Sidebar
Article 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
Clinical significance identification in the of aero-allergen western Cape
Abstract
Positive identification and documentation of the 'seasonal variation of aero-allergens and the immune responses to them has important implications for the timing of allergen avoidance measures and the selection of patients suitable for immunotherapy. The relative abundance of aero-allergens in the Cape Peninsula dUring 1984 - 1987 was measured by continuous volumetric air sampling, using a Burkard spore trap. Mould spore counts of > 3000 spores/m) were found throughout the year and were only exceeded by pollen grains in the months of September and October (range 4 800 - 7400 spores/m). Gramineae and Compositae spores were found perennially in significant numbers. Pollen from allergenic trees peaked at fixed times each year: oak in August; plane in September and pine between August and October. Grasses found on the Peninsula include sweet vernal, Bermuda grass, rye grass, commori reed, Johnson grass, brome grass, canary grass, annual meadow and kikuyu. In vivo skin tests in 209 children with known allergic disease were positive to Dermatophygoides pteronyssimus (73%), South African grasses (38%), tree pollens (22,4%), flower and weed pollens (19,6%), cat (27%), dog (12%) and feathers (18,6%). One-third of the 1 372 children screened at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital Allergy Service had positive specific IgE responses to environmental allergens. Investigation of 62 children possibly allergic to grass using the radlo-allergosorbent test revealed positive results in 25 (41%). Of these, 92% were positive to Timothy grass, a grass not occurring in the Cape Peninsula. Knowledge of cross-reactivity profiles for local allergens minimises the number of tests required in allergy diagnosis.
