Skin test and radioallergosorbent test with extracts of larval and adult midges of Tokunagayusurika akamusi Tokunaga (Diptera: Chironomidae) in asthmatic patients of the metropolitan area of Tokyo.

Prick test and radioallergosorbent test to extracts of larval and adult midges, Tokunagayusurika akamusi (Tokunaga) were done in randomly selected asthmatic patients in the metropolitan area of Tokyo, Japan. Thirty-eight percent of 303 asthmatic patients were prick-test positive to either larval or adult midges, and 32.4% of 105 asthmatic patients were positive to either extracts by RAST, while only one out of 20 normal individuals was positive to RAST. These positive rates in the asthmatic patients were the second to the positive rates of prick test and RAST using mite antigen. Antigens from midges seem to be the second important allergens in the metropolitan area of Tokyo.