Methods: A cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted in 100 school children aged 6-7 years in a primary school of San Antonio de los Baños, La Habana, Cuba, in February-March, 2007. The ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) questionnaire was applied to determine the presence of asthma and allergic rhinitis. The sensitization to environmental fungi Penicillium, Cladosporium and Alternaria was explored by skin prick tests. The statistical association between sensitization to each environmental fungi and the presence of asthma and allergic rhinitis was determine by chi-square tests.
Results: The 27 % of the selected sample suffered from asthma, 40 % from allergic rhinitis and 56 % showed asthma, rhinitis or both, which was grouped in a term called allergic respiratory disease. From these 56 children, 18 had positive prick tests to one or more environmental fungi (32%); 9 showed cutaneous reactivity to Cladosporium (16%), 9 to Penicillium (16%) and 5 to Alternaria (9%). There was a significant statistically association between the cutaneous reactivity to Penicillium and the presence of allergic rhinitis (X2=5.46 p=0.05). There were no associations between any other fungal sensitization and the presence of asthma or allergic rhinitis.
Conclusions: Allergic sensitizations to environmental fungi were relevant in children with asthma, rhinitis or both; there was a significant statistically association between sensitization to Penicillium and the presence of allergic rhinitis.