The allergenic importance of house dust and storage mites in asthmatics in Brunei, S.E. Asia.

Examination of dust from sleeping areas showed that storage mites, especially Glycyphagid species, were predominant in Brunei house dust. On skin testing sixty asthmatics with 1% extracts of six mite species, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus was found to provoke the greatest number of positive skin reactions (66.7%), but positive reactions for Tyrophagus putrescentiae (50%), Acarus siro (35%), Glycyphagus domesticus (40%), and Lepidoglyphus destructor (45%) demonstrated that storage mites are also significant allergens. The role of storage mites in the causation of asthma in the tropics may have been underestimated.