Estimating allergic sensitization to some mold fungi

The assessment of allergic sensitization of 894 patients (478 and 416 of them examined in 2018 and 2019, respectively) who were examined at the consultative and Diagnostic center of G.N. Gabrichevsky Scientific Research Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Moscow, for some mold fungi was carried out by measuring serum specific IgE antibody level by using a highly specific and highly sensitive immunoblot method (RIDA AllergyScreen test systems, R-Biopharm AG, Germany). The prevalence of patients with elevated levels of specific IgE antibodies to mold fungi Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium herbarum and Penicillium notatum was found. All the examined patients at each time point was divided into two age groups: group 1 — children aged 1 to 17 years, 548 children within the two-year period (303 of them girls and 245 boys), group 2 — adults aged at least 18 years old, 346 subjects within the same period (231 of them women and 115 men). Results. In 2018, out of 478 serum samples, atopic sensitization to mold fungi was detected in 25.3% (n = 121) of the examined subjects, of which 17.9% (n = 86) and 7.4% (n = 35) was found in group 1 and group 2, respectively. In 2019, out of 416 serum samples, atopic sensitization to mold fungi was detected in 20.7% (n = 86) of the examined subjects, of which 13.5% (n = 56) and 7.2% (n = 30) was found in group 1 and group 2, respectively. In 2018, out of 121 positive samples, specific IgE antibodies to various mold fungi were slightly more often detected in females — 53.7% (n = 65), of which 75.3% (n = 49) and 24.7% (n = 16) were girls and women, respectively. In contrast, in 2019, out of 86 positive samples, specific IgE antibodies to various mold fungi were slightly more often detected in males reaching 51.2% (n = 44), of which 79.5% (n = 35) and 20.5% (n = 9) were boys and men, respectively. Atopic sensitization to the mold fungus Alternaria alternata was most often detected: during the study period, out of 207 positive samples, it was found in 186 samples (89.9%). Serum IgE antibodies to mold fungi are more often detected in children under 17, in sex-independent manner.