Introduction:

The presence of fungi in the respiratory tract can cause different allergic manifestations in sensitive persons.

Objective:

To determine if fungi species isolated from the nasal mucosa of respiratory allergic patients can be defined as allergen-sensitive by means of skin tests.

Methods:

Observational, prospective and cross-sectional study, where the overall sample consisted of all patients with a diagnosis of respiratory allergy or onset of decompensated variable bronchial asthma, over 2 years old and under 19 years old who attended to Allergy consultations in Havana, from January 2016 to January 2017. The sample obtained was 80 respiratory allergic patients.

Results:

Of the total number of patients with symptoms of clinical asthma, rhinitis or both, Prick´s skin tests were obtained by fungal positive test in 52 of them (65 %) with a polysensitization in 24 (46.1 %). The most relevant cross reactivity occurred with the allergens of Aspergillus, Penicillium and Alternaria. The culture was positive in 54 nasal samples (67 %). The predominant fungal genus in allergic patients was Aspergillus in 70.3 % and within this Aspergillus fumigatus in 52.6 %.

Conclusions:

The study of nasal mycobiota is a test that should be interpreted together with skin tests for the diagnosis of allergic diseases due to environmental fungi and it must be taken into account its importance for epidemiological control in fungal exposure.

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