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We performed patch tests with Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dp) antigens from 2 different sources in 355 non-randomly selected patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and 398 subjects of a control group. The study demonstrated that contact sensitization to mites occurred in an appreciable % of AD cases (20.8%), using commonly available assay products. The differences recorded between the 2 materials tested were related to the concentration of P1 antigen. Non-atopic patients rarely showed positive reactions to Dp (0.75%), when strict criteria for readings were applied and if 2 readings were performed. Patients with positive patch tests did not necessarily show positive immediate skin tests. It would be useful to carry out tests systematically in atopic patients, even if it is not yet known what modern treatment would be best for the patient. Laboratories still do not provide standardized house dust mite preparations--measuring and codifying their biological activity--for use in patch tests. It is to be hoped that the extension of this type of test will lead to the production of better test materials, in syringes with homogeneous dispersion and concentration.

The free sale of "self-defence sprays" and the use of such weapons by the police and riot squads account for the increase observed in the frequency of cutaneous accidents. Tear gases. 1. CN, or chloracetophenone, is a compound insoluble in water and soluble in alcohol, ether and carbon sulphide. MACE is CN dissolved in methylchloroform. 2. CS, or orthochlorobenzylidene malononitrile is also insoluble in water and can be used in sprays in concentrations of 2 to 8 p. 100, propelled by such gases as freons. Clinical effects. 1. Experimental. When these gases are suspended in air they mostly act on the eyes, producing blepharospasm, conjunctivitis and photophobia; they have only minor effects on the skin. When applied directly onto the skin they produce extreme irritation with erythema and vesicles. The higher the degree of humidity, the more severe the lesions. In animals and in man CN and CS behave as potential allergens on repeated exposures. 2. Accidental. Tear gases may have two effects: they usually produce irritant dermatitis, but also sometimes a genuine eczema. In aggressors exposed to these sprays the lesions develop in two stages: first, redness and burning sensation on the face--which characteristically is only affected on one side owing to the lateral projection of the tear gas--then, on the following day there appears an oedema similar to Quincke's oedema, with swelling of the eyelids. Oozing rapidly turns to crusts, and in the absence of treatment infection is the rule. Cure requires as many as 10 to 15 days of treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In the plant of a large newspaper, the manufacture of printing plates using photopolymer acrylic resins, in the place of lead, resulted in a series of orthoergic and allergic manifestations in the workers. Chemical analysis resulted in the isolation of a tetraethylene glycol diacrylate, the harmful nature of which was proven by allergological studies. Its replacement by tetrathylene glycol dimethacrylate eliminated the problems seen (study based upon 300 allergological tests).