Control of Exposure to Mite Allergen and Allergen-impermeable Bed Covers for Adults with Asthma

is an important contributor to childhood asthma, and these investigators sought to determine whether the use of mattress and pillow encasings resulted in effective long-term control of mattress HDM levels, thus reducing the need for maintenance asthma medication. Study Population. The subjects were 60 children (5–15 years of age) with asthma and HDM allergy, in the absence of any other clinically relevant allergy. Inclusion criteria included physician-diagnosed asthma, positive HDM puncture skin test results, positive HDM bronchoprovocation results, and total HDM concentrations of 2000 ng/g dust from the child’s mattress. All except 4 of the study patients were treated with inhaled corticosteroids. Methods. In this prospective, double-blind, placebocontrolled, 1-year study, children were randomized to the use of active (allergy control) or placebo mattress and pillow encasings. Baseline measures included mattress dust sampling, spirometry, and adjustment of medications. Symptom scores and peak flows were recorded throughout the study. Clinical assessments, including medication adjustments, and dust sampling were performed every 3 months. Bronchoprovocation was performed at the time of inclusion and at completion of the study. Results. Twenty-six children in the active treatment group and 21 children in the placebo group completed the study. A significant perennial reduction in levels of HDM allergen recovered from mattresses was noted only for the active treatment group. Significant decreases in the doses of inhaled corticosteroids also were noted only for the active treatment group. There were no significant differences between the active treatment and placebo groups in any of the secondary endpoints, including peak flow and forced expiratory volume in 1 second, symptoms, and HDM bronchoprovocation results. Conclusions. The use of mattress and pillow encasings led to significant long-term reductions in HDM allergen levels in mattresses and in the need for inhaled corticosteroids among children with asthma and HDM allergy. Reviewer’s Comments. Greater HDM allergen exposure in childhood is associated with more severe asthma. However, it has been difficult to demonstrate in clinical studies that HDM avoidance is both achievable and associated with subsequent clinical improvement. This is not surprising, given the ubiquitous nature of HDMs and concomitant exposure to other contributing allergens. These authors chose their patient population carefully, to allow greater focus on the allergens in question. The 1-time cost of these encasings is approximately equal to the cost of 1 month of asthma drug therapy in the United States, and encasings are laborand risk-free. They should be made available to HDM-allergic persons of all ages unless there is compelling evidence against them, which there is not currently. The same cannot be said for measures such as duct cleaning and the use of special filters, which likely have very little effect on either the ambient load of HDM allergen or clinical status.