October 5th, 2018
We interviewed residents from 358 randomly selected apartments in Gary, Indiana and assessed the environmental conditions. Dust samples were collected from 101 apartment kitchen floors to analyze for cockroach allergen (Bla g 1 and Bla g 2) levels. Exposure to cockroach allergen was strongly associated with increased hospitalization in children with asthma. The effect cannot be explained entirely by IgE-mediated inflammation. Controlled interventional trials are needed to determine whether isolated cockroach abatement improves asthma control.