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1 Dept of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Visby Hospital, Visby, 4 Dept of Pediatrics, Sachs' Children's Hospital, 3 Dept of Environmental Health, and 2 Dept of Medicine, Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Karolinska Hospital and Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
CORRESPONDENCE: B. Klintberg, Dept of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Visby Hospital, 621 84, Visby, Sweden. Fax: 46 498203548
Keywords: asthma, atopic sensitization, eczema, farming, hay fever, International Study on Asthma and Allergy in Childhood
Received: March 20, 2000
Accepted January 9, 2001
This study was supported by grants from the municipality of Gotland, the Research Foundation in Visby Hospital, the local committee for the Prevention of Asthma and Allergy on Gotland, the Foundations of Samariten, Konsul Th C Bergh, ALK Sweden, and GlaxoWellcome, the Swedish Foundation of Allergy Research, the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association and the Karolinska Institute.
The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of respiratory allergy, eczema and atopic sensitization in a closed birth cohort of Swedish schoolchildren, 7–8 yrs of age (n=707), of farmers and nonfarmers on the island of Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. All children were born and raised on the island.
The survey comprised a questionnaire on atopic diseases and lifestyle factors. Atopic sensitization was assessed by the skin-prick test (SPT) with 15 standardized allergens.
The risk ratio (RR) for ever having asthma and/or allergic rhinoconjunctivitis was significantly lower among children of farmers compared to children of nonfarmers (RR=0.38, confidence interval (CI) 95% 0.19–0.77). SPTs (test rate 92%) showed that 32% of the children had at least one positive test. Although the number of positive SPTs did not differ between the groups, there was a reduced risk among children of farmers for having both respiratory symptoms and sensitization to any International Study on Asthma and Allergy in Childhood allergen (RR=0.28, CI 95% 0.09–0.88).
The present indicate that living in a farming population seems to protect against development of respiratory allergic disorders but not against allergic sensitization.
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