Abstract: Objective To investigate positive allergens and sex distribution in childhood and adult patients with allergic rhinitis(AR) in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Methods A total of 4383 cases (aged between 3-75 years) with allergic symptoms and signs underwent skin prick test (SPT)with 16 kinds of standardized allergens. The samples were stratified on childhood and adult groups to analysis the distributive characteristics of allergens responsible for each group. The childhood subjects were further stratified on 3 groups (3-5-year-old, 6-14-year-old, 15-17-year-old) for analysis. Results 1063 cases (78.9%) had the positive reaction in the childhood group, including 717 (67.5%) cases of males and 346 (32.5%) cases of females. 1687 cases (55.6%) had the positive reaction in the adult group, including 715 (42.4%) cases of males and 972 (57.6%) cases of females. Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagodies pteronyssinus had the highest positive ratio (92.9%, 90.8% and 81.0%, 78.9%) in both groups, the 3rd to 5th followed were cat hair (7.2%), cockroach (6.9%) and Humulus L.(5.8%) in the childhood group, cockroach (14.2%), Humulus L.(13.0%), and shrimp (6.4%) in the adult group. There were significantly higher sensitivities to positive ratio of SPT, male and female positive ratio of SPT, positive ratio of Dermatophagoides farinae, Dermatophagodies pteronyssinus, cockroach, Humulus L. and cat hair, positive ratio of single dust mite, male and female positive ratio of single dust mite, and the ratio of class +++, ++++ and ++ in the dust mite position between the childhood group and the adult group (P<0.05). And there were no significantly high sensitivities to the three groups in childhood according to the items above expect positive ratio of SPT between the 6-14-year-old group and the 3-5-year-old group (P<0.05), and the 6-14-year-old and 15-17-year-old groups (P<0.05). Conclusion There are significantly high sensitivity to the main allergens between childhood and adult AR patients in the region. In childhood group, the number of male is higher than that of female in the positive ratio of SPT and the single Dust mite. It suggests that the minors would be more suitable for specific immunotherapy.

Key words: Allergic rhinitis; Skin tests; Allergen; Mites