Report on increases in asthma and atopy

From an R.N. - All this talk about prevention and not one mention of the increasing number of medical journal studies linking asthma and atopy with vaccination.

WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Jan 12 - A study of more than 1000 Australian children indicates that the prevalence of asthma and atopy has continued to increase over the past decade, according to findings published by Australian researchers in the January issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Dr. S. H. Downs of the University of Sydney in Camperdown and colleagues note that surveys conducted in Western countries in the 1970s and 1980s showed increases in asthma in children and young adults.

To determine the extent of possible further changes, the researchers examined survey data obtained in 1997 from 1016 children aged 8 years to 11 years, who lived in the town of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. These figures were compared with those of similar surveys of children conducted in areas including Wagga Wagga in 1982 and 1992.

Between 1992 and 1997, the prevalence of asthma increased by 5.1%, asthma diagnosis increased by 8.1% and atopy by 6.7%. Similar increases in prevalence were seen between 1982 and 1992. Altogether, say the investigators, “the prevalence of wheeze, asthma diagnosis and use of asthma medicine increased two- to threefold between 1982 and 1997.”

The continuing increase in the prevalence of asthma and atopy, they conclude, “has important implications for the health of future generations of children, and continues to reinforce the message that prevention programmes are needed.”

Arch Dis Child 2001;84:20-23.

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