Field work on nasal allergy

Abstract

1. We have inspected nasal allergy in a total of 6415 youths in Japan and China.
2. In Japan and China, the rate of sensitization to nasal allergy, that is the rate of positivity for the scratch test, tended to increase with aging.
3. In both the countries, this tendency was observed in the school children who lived in the same autonomy at the same time. In Japan, the positivity rate for the scratch test in the same subjects tended to increase with aging.
4. The increase in the positivity rate with aging of these school children may increase the duration of exposure of the school children to allergen. The sensitization assumed to increase along with prolongation of the total duration of exposure.
5. In China, however, the positivity rate for the scratch test and the prevalence rate of nasal allergy are lower than those in Japan. The economical development in China is currently in progress following Japan. The positivity rate of the scratch test and the prevalence rate of nasal allergy may also increase with the progression.