Asthma Allergy Immunology

Asthma Allergy Immunology

Integrated Screening Approach for House Dust Mite Allergy in Low-Resource Settings: Symptoms, Environment, and Dust Sampling

Cahyani Amalia PUTRI 1, Azwin Mengindra PUTERA 2, Deasy FETARAYANI 3,

1 Medical Program, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
2 Department of Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
3 Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia

DOI: 10.21911/aai.2026.1432
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Allergy caused by exposure to house dust mite (HDM) is a global health problem, with sensitization rates reaching 60-80% among patients with allergic disease. However, access to conventional methods such as skin prick testing and specific IgE remains limited in many regions due to constraints related to cost, infrastructure, and trained personnel. This situation underscores the need for simpler and more affordable screening strategies. Alternative approaches (including symptom questionnaires, household environmental assessments, and low cost dust sampling) can expand screening coverage and enhance detection sensitivity when used in combination. The effectiveness of these approaches depends heavily on instrument validation, integration into primary care services, community health literacy, and policy support. Moving forward, strengthening HDM screening requires three primary pillars: validation of instruments to ensure accuracy across populations; development of risk based algorithms that integrate clinical, environmental, and epidemiological data; and international collaboration to standardize methodologies. Integrating these components has the potential to produce a more precise, affordable, and sustainable screening system, particularly in low-resource settings.

Keywords : House dust mite, allergy, screening, low resource settings, questionnaire, environmental assessment