Journal of the American Medical Association · 1930 · 22 citations · 1 references
Life SciencesDermatologyImmunologyAllergyDermatopathologyHypersensitivityAllergic ConditionsAllergic Disease PathologyAllergic Skin DiseasesPatch TestingPollen AllergySkin Prick TestingPlant Contact DermatitisPlant DermatitisPollen SensitizationUrticarial Dermatitis
The prevalence in this country of the plants known as short and giant ragweed, together with the propensities of these plants for causing allergic conditions in human beings, is too well known to require further elucidation here. Allergic asthma and hay-fever due to ragweed are among the commonest disorders seen by general practitioners and by specialists. Skin tests, consisting of a superficial scratch to which an extract of the pollen of the plant is applied, are in universal use to determine the sensitiveness in the patients in question. It does not seem necessary here to go into detail concerning the technic and evaluation of the tests, on account of the voluminous literature dealing with these points. Another fact which has frequently been observed and reported is that allergic asthma and hay-fever are often combined or associated with eczematous and urticarial eruptions of various types, occurring either in the same patient
1