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Is the Prevalence of Allergy Continuously Increasing?

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Allergy Frontiers: Epigenetics, Allergens and Risk Factors

Part of the book series: Allergy Frontiers ((ALLERGY,volume 1))

Health systems and investigators worldwide have been asking themselves for many years whether the prevalence of atopic illnesses has been increasing continuously. It is mandatory to consider studies using comparable methods to validate these results.

The Aberdeen study considered the presence of asthma diagnosis, wheezing, eczema, and rhinitis between the decades of 1960 and 1990, showing a significant increase in all of them, not attributable to a diagnosis fashion but to a truly change in prevalence, using the same methodology in two time points in 25 years [1]. In this population and throughout these years, the proportion of wheezing increased from 10% to almost double, diagnosis of asthma from 4% to 10%, rhinitis from 3% to almost four times, and eczema from 5% to more than double. All these variables increased particularly noticeable in boys.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Cordoba, Obispo Trejo 323, Cordoba, X5000IYG, Argentina

    Carlos E. Baena-Cagnani

  2. Allergy and Asthma Unit, Hospital San Bernardo, Mariano Boedo 50, Salta, 4400, Argentina

    R. Maximiliano Gómez

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  1. Carlos E. Baena-Cagnani
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  2. R. Maximiliano Gómez
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Ruby Pawankar

  2. Childrens's Mercy Hospital & Clinic, 2401 Gillham RD, Kansas city, MO, USA

    Stephen T. Holgate

  3. Southampton General Hospital, University of Southampton, Tremona Road, Southampton, UK

    Lanny J. Rosenwasser

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Baena-Cagnani, C.E., Gómez, R.M. (2009). Is the Prevalence of Allergy Continuously Increasing?. In: Pawankar, R., Holgate, S.T., Rosenwasser, L.J. (eds) Allergy Frontiers: Epigenetics, Allergens and Risk Factors. Allergy Frontiers, vol 1. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-72802-3_2

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