Evan Campbell, Brigham Young University
Life Sciences
Asthma is a chronic allergic disorder manifest by airway restriction due to inflammation, bronchoconstriction, and increased respiratory mucous secretion. As many as 300 million people worldwide are affected by asthma and its prevalence is increasing primarily in countries experiencing urbanization and Westernization. Asthma is currently the most common chronic illness among children in the U.S., and the third leading cause of hospitalization for children aged 0 – 15 yrs. Reservoir dust collection and area air sampling are the two primary methods of measuring allergen levels in house dust. Allergen sensitization leading to asthma is thought to occur prior to age six while the immune system is still naïve. In the case of the dust mite allergen Der p1, the exposure window may be as early as age two. However, little evidence is available to establish a dose–response relationship between inhalation exposure and early immunological sensitization to allergens. Temperature and relative humidity play a major role in dust mite survival and proliferation and indoor humidity above 50-60% in arid environments has been shown to support dust mite populations. Evaporative “swamp” coolers cool air by adding humidity to it and can create favorable environments for dust mite survival. We are working to determine how much swamp coolers contribute to dust mite levels in Utah by quantitating dust mite allergen levels in homes with and without swamp coolers. In order to do this we are developing sensitive ELISA and quantitative PCR methods to allow us to determine levels of exposure even when low levels of dust are collected.