Abstract
There is evidence that morbidity and mortality from asthma as well as the prevalence of allergic diseases is increasing. As data were missing in Germany, we studied in a crossectional design 9 403 schoolchildren (age 9-11 years) in an urban and rural area of Bavaria using a questionnaire, skin prick tests and pulmonary function tests before and after cold air challenge. The responserates were: 87% for questionnaires, 77% for allergy or pulmonary function tests. Evaluation of the questionnaires gave the following prevalences: 18,1% allergic rhinitis, 19,7% atopic dermatitis, 2,5% asthma and 5,5% recurrent wheezy bronchitis. Beyond this 8,3% had recurrent wheezing and 3,4% chronic cough by night or exercise without any diagnose of asthma or wheezy bronchitis. 42 % of all german children are atopic, ie exhibit at least one positive prick test reaction for the six aeroallergens tested. Bronchial hyperreactivity was found in 9% of german children. Atopic diseases and asthma are more frequent in the urban than the rural area. In summary there is an important underdiagnosis of asthma in this pediatric population.
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