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Allergy to castor bean was diagnosed in thirty-nine dockworkers from Port Sudan, on the basis of rhinitis and/or asthma provoked by castor bean dust, together with a positive prick test to a high dilution of castor bean extract. These were compared to twelve non-allergic dockworkers from Port Sudan and forty-three other Port Sudan residents. The castor bean allergic group had significantly higher IgE levels (mean 902 iu/ml) than the non-allergic dock workers (mean 245 iu/ml) or the Port Sudan residents (mean 404 iu/ml) P less than 0.01. IgE antibody to castor bean was detected in all the castor bean-allergic group, and also in 25-35% of the Port Sudan resident group, but at a much lower level. No evidence was found to support the view that parasitic infestation (evidenced by IgE antibodies to Ascaris lumbricoides) prevented sensitization to castor bean or any other allergen. There was a higher incidence of IgE antibodies to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus in the castor bean-allergic dockworkers (18/36) than in the non-allergic Port Sudan residents (5/43), although we were unable to show that sensitivity to other inhalant allergens pre-disposed to castor bean allergy.

Two preliminary trials in which patients with respiratory allergy to the house dust mite were treated with pyridine-extracted alum-precipitated extracts of house dust mites are described. In the first, using an extract of D. farinae, twenty-two of twenty-eight asthmatic patients improved. In the second, using an extract of D. pteronyssinus, fifteen of eighteen asthmatic patients improved.