| Summary: | Allergic reactions have been a major public health problem. At the same time, the frequency of domestic animals has also increased in our society. Several studies have aimed to investigate a possible relationship between these factors and have obtained divergent results. Here, we aim to perform an approach of regional importance (in the city of São Paulo) that considers the three main factors to be evaluated for a reliable assessment of the frequency of allergies: the in vivo evaluation by skin prick test (SPT), the in vitro evaluation of allergen-specific serum IgE levels and the clinical evaluation of subjects. In this study, individuals were grouped according to the presence of domestic animals in their homes. The socio-demographic characteristics of the grouped individuals are very similar. A great similarity was also observed in the reactivity profile evaluated by SPT although a higher frequency of dog and aeroallergen reactivity combined with a lower frequency of cat allergen reactivity at specific IgE levels was observed. The clinical evaluation of the subjects showed great similarity regarding the development of respiratory allergies between the groups. Thus, we conclude that, in the investigated population, living with domestic animals does not influence the development of respiratory allergies.
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