We reviewed 465 cases of nasal allergy treated as outpatients at our allergy clinic between 1987 and 1991. The ratio of male/female was 1.1: 1.62.4% of patients were under 25 years old on the initial visit. The number of patients seen at the clinic had two peaks, one in March and the other in August. Eosinophils were found in nasal smears from 79.0%of for patients. Positive reactions to the allergen skin test for house dust, mites, grasspollen, Japanese cedar-pollen, ragweed-pollen, candida, and alternaria were 67.4%,54.5%,37.4%,32.6%,17.3%,10.0%,8.3%, respectively. A high frequency of allergic sensitization to grass-pollen appeard among people living in Okayama. The most frequent combined allergens were observed among types of house dust and/or mites and types of pollen. Patients who were only sensitized to house dust and/or mites were younger and male, while patients sensitized to pollen only were older and female. There was little difference in the severity of nasal symptom between perennial rhinitis and seasonal rhinitis. The rate of agreement between RAST (radioallergosorbent test) and skin test to house dust, mite, Japanese cedar-pollen, grass-pollen, ragweed-pollen, fungus were 71.1%,78.1%,69.9%,17.6% and 10-20%, respectively.
