A. Broberg, J. Faergemann, S. Johansson, SG. Johansson, IL. Strannegård, E. Svejgaard
DOI: 10.2340/0001555572187192

Children aged 0-21 years, 60 children with atopic dermatitis (AD), 40 children with rhinoconjunctivitis and or asthma (RA) and 40 children with no atopic history (HC) were studied to evaluate the relationship between skin colonisation with Pityrosporum ovale and the occurrence of specific IgE antibodies to P. ovale. The following studies were done: culture for P. ovale, measurement of IgE antibodies to P. ovale (skin prick test, RAST), Candida albicans, and Cladosporium herbarum (RAST) and IgG antibodies to P. ovale. P. ovale could be cultured with about the same frequency in children and young adults with AD and age-matched children with or without other atopic manifestations. In spite of similar colonisation, IgE antibodies against P. ovale occur only in atopy and more frequently in children with AD than in those with other types of atopic disease.