TITLE: Dust-free bedrooms in the treatment of asthmatic children with house dust or house dust mite allergy: a controlled trial.
AUTHORS: Murray AB; Ferguson AC
SOURCE: Pediatrics 1983 Mar; 71(3): 418-22
CITATION IDS: PMID: 6338475 UI: 83143089
ABSTRACT: Twenty asthmatic children with prick tests positive for house dust or house dust mites were allocated to two groups that were matched for severity. One group was provided with zippered vinyl covers for pillows, mattresses, and box springs, and instructions for making the bedroom as easy to keep clean as a hospital ward; the other group was not. At the end of a 1-month study period, there was a marked and statistically significant difference in symptoms and signs of asthma between the two groups. Those with a dust-free bedroom had fewer days on which wheezing was observed, medication was given, or an abnormally low peak expiratory flow rate was recorded. Bronchial tolerance to aerosolized histamine significantly improved in the group whose bedrooms had been modified. A dust-free bedroom diminishes bronchial irritability and is a practical and effective method for decreasing asthma in children with house dust or house dust mite allergy.

TITLE: Allergen avoidance in house dust mite sensitive adult asthma.
AUTHORS: Walshaw MJ; Evans CC
SOURCE: Q J Med 1986 Feb; 58(226): 199-215
CITATION IDS: PMID: 3520626 UI: 86233964
ABSTRACT: Fifty adult asthmatic patients with strongly positive skin prick tests to the house dust mite were admitted into a prospective randomised controlled trial of house dust mite avoidance in the community. Twenty- two of the experimental group completed one year of dust avoidance and 19 of these tolerated the use of plastic mattress and pillow covers. Twenty of the control group (who did not alter their housecleaning habits) also completed one year of study. A fall in mite and dust levels was noted in the homes of the experimental but not the control group. Fifteen of the experimental group who completed the study were strongly RAST positive (score 3 or more) to the house dust mite. These patients had a significant improvement in FEV1/FVC, PEFR, PC20, use of treatment, and symptom score at one year, whilst the seven experimental patients who were not strongly RAST positive (score 2 or less) did not, suggesting that the change noted in the former patients was not merely due to a placebo effect. Fifteen of the control group who completed the study were also strongly RAST positive for the house dust mite and these patients showed no change in any of the parameters. This study demonstrates that adult asthmatic patients can successfully carry out house dust eradication procedures in the community over a long period of time, and that those patients who are allergic to the house dust mite appear to have both subjective and objective improvement in their asthma.