Frequency of Fungal Sensitisation in Patients with Severe Atopic Asthma

Background: The incidence of mould allergy ranges from 6 to 24% in the general population, up to 44% among atopics and 80% among asthmatics. Since 2006, SAFS became recognized as a new phenotype of asthma, and was conceptualized as a continuum of fungal sensitization, with asthma at one end and ABPA at the other. The paucity of data and ambiguity in diagnostic criteria currently renders SAFS more of a diagnosis of exclusion than a specific entity. Objective: Our aim was to identify frequency of SAFS in atopic severe asthma patients attending our tertiary care clinic. Materials and methods: The study was conducted on a cohort of 50 patients with severe atopic asthma. All patients were subjected to history taking for asthma symptoms, skin test with fungal antigens, total IgE level, peripheral blood eosinophilia, chest x-ray and high resolution CT chest. Results: We demonstrated SAFS in 38 patients (76%). Fungal allergens that demonstrated statistical significance in SAFS patients were Alternaria alternata in 65.8%, Aspergillus fumigatus in 53.3% and Cladosporium in 52.6%. Conclusion: We report high frequency of fungal sensitisation (76%). There is a need for better recognition of SAFS as it is rather under recognized.