Læknablaðið - 15.10.1988, Page 11

LÆKNABLAÐIÐ
307
í annarri grein í blaðinu er lýst sambandi
heytegunda og einkenna (22). Þar kemur í ljós að
næstum öll einkenni af heyryki eru tengd vinnu í
þurrheyi, einkum þegar það er illa verkað.
SUMMARY
Immediate type allergy in two farming communities in
Iceland. I. Prevalence and main allergens.
The aim of this study was to find prevalence of type I
allergy and allergens which cause symptoms in two
farming communities in Iceland. One community, V.
Skaftafellssýsla, is located at the southern coast of
Iceland, the country’s heaviest rainfall area (2,000-4,000
mm/year). In spite of this, regular haymaking with
outdoor drying of the hay is the most common method.
After a wet summer one would expect to find moldy
hay, generating a lot of dust. The other community,
Strandasýsla, is located in the northwestern part of the
country, where rainfall is low (1000-2000 mm/year) but
the summer is very short. Therefore the farmer cannot
risk a wet summer and makes silage from most of his
harvest. The regular haymaking by outdoor drying is
usually done under optimal circumstances, but the
amount is small. An average farmer in this community
therefore has the least haydust exposure in Iceland.
We selected from the Icelandic National Registry all
heads of household 50 year old and younger in these
communities. All family members age 6-50 were
examined. These age limits were used because allergic
symptoms and skin tests tend to fade after the age of 50,
and it is difficult to draw blood from young children.
The British Medical Research Council questionnaire of
respiratory symptoms was used with questions added
regarding symptoms, possibly caused by type I allergy.
If there were positive answers to any of these possibly
allergic symptoms, a prick test was performed. The
allergens used were the 12 standard allergens used in
Iceland and 12 allergens found in the Icelandic hay. Skin
test was positive if the reaction was 2 mm larger than
negative control.
We studied 319 individuals, 183 males and 136 females.
Prick test was performed on 103. Of these 57 or 55%
had one or more positive skin test.
In V. Skaftafellssýsla 42 (27,6% of those studied)
underwent prick test but 61 (36,5% of the study group)
in Strandasýsla. The most common allergen were the
hay dust mite Lepidoglyphus destructor (38), house dust
(31%), cows (21,3%) Tyrophagus putrecentiae (17,4%)
and Acarus siro (13,6%).
The distribution of cough, dyspnea or fever after
exposure to hay dust were about equal among those who
were skin test positive as skin test negative. However,
72% of those who were skin test positive had nasal
symptoms and 61% eye symptoms after haydust
exposure. Comparable figures for the skin test negative
ones were 28% and 17%. This is a significant difference
(p<0.001).
Prevalence of possibly allergic symptoms is slightly
higher in Strandasýsla, where most of the harvest is
made in silage. However, the prevalence of positive skin
tests is the same in the two communities. Nasal and eye
symptoms correlate best with positive skin tests. Hay
dust mites are the most important allergens in these
communities, followed by house dust and cow dander.
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