Allergy Asthma Immunol Res.  2012 Mar;4(2):62-67. 10.4168/aair.2012.4.2.62.

Asthma and Rhinitis in South America: How Different They are From Other Parts of the World

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Federal University of Parana, Parana, Brazil. nelson.rosario@ufpr.br
  • 2Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Federal University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Abstract

Asthma and rhinitis epidemiology has wide variations around the world. The aim of this review was verify the prevalence of asthma and rhinitis in South America and report differences from other regions of the world. We reviewed studies with International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) methodology in South America, Phases I and III. In South America the ISAAC Phase I ranked four countries among top ten in prevalence of asthma and three countries among top ten in prevalence of rhinoconjunctivitis. ISAAC Phase III showed little changes in asthma and rhinitis prevalence in South American countries. The prevalence increases of asthma and rhinitis in South American centers indicate that the burden of both is continuing to rise, but the differences in prevalence are lessening.

Keyword

Asthma; epidemiology; rhinitis

MeSH Terms

Asthma
Hypersensitivity
Prevalence
Rhinitis
South America

Reference

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