Return to Contents in this Issue

Original Article
 

Prevalence of Symptoms of Eczema in Latin America: Results of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase 3
 

D Solé,1 J Mallol,2 GF Wandalsen,1 V Aguirre,2 Latin American ISAAC Phase 3 Study Group3

1Division of Allergy, Clinical immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
2Department of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, Hospital CRS El Pino, University of Santiago de Chile (USACH), Santiago, Chile.
3Latin American ISAAC Phase 3 Study Group
Latin American ISAAC Phase Three Study Group (Regional Coordinator: Javier Mallol).
Argentina (Coordinator: Carlos E Baena-Cagnani; Collaborators: Gustavo Enrique Zabert, Carlos D Crisci, Maximiliano Gómez), Bolivia (Rosario Pinto-Vargas), Brazil (Coordinator: Dirceu Solé; Collaborators: Jackeline Machado Motta, Paulo Augusto M Camargos, Wellington G Borges, Almerinda Silva, Emanuel Sarinho, Nelson Rosário, Leda de Freitas Souza, Cláudia dos Santos Dutra Bernhardt, Francisco José Passos, Maria do Socorro Cardoso, Fábio Kuschnir, Arnaldo Porto Neto, Gilberto B Fischer, Murilo de Britto, Neusa Wandalsen, Karen Chacon, Antonio Carlos Pastorino), Chile (Coordinator: Viviana Aguirre; Collaborators: Luis Vera-Benavides, Amanda Contreras, Lidia Amarales, Pedro Aguilar Mario A Calvo), Colombia (Alfonso M Cepeda, Gustavo Aristizábal, Gustavo A Ordoñez), Costa Rica (Manuel E Soto-Quirós), Cuba (Patricia Varona-Peréz), Ecuador (César Bustos, Sergio Barba), El Salvador (Margarita Figueroa-Colorado), Honduras (Agustin Bueso-Engelhardt), Mexico (Coordinator: Manuel Baeza-Bacab; Collaborators: Roberto García-Almaraz, Blanca E Del-Río-Navarro, Mercedes Barragán-Meijueiro, Nelly Ramírez-Chanona, Isabelle Romieu, J Valente Merida-Palacio, Sandra Nora González- Díaz, Francisco J Linares-Zapién, Sergio Romero-Tapia), Nicaragua (José Félix Sánchez), Panama (Gherson Cukier), Paraguay (Jaime A Guggiari-Chase), Peru (Pascual Chiarella), Uruguay (Coordinator: Dolores Holgado; Collaborator: María Cristina Lapides), Venezuela (Oscar Aldrey).

J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2010; Vol. 20(4): 311-323
 

 Abstract


Background: The aim of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) was to evaluate the prevalence of symptoms of eczema among children living in different parts of Latin America. Data were from centers that participated in ISAAC Phase 3.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 93 851 schoolchildren (6 to 7 years old) from 35 centers in 14 Latin American countries and 165 917 adolescents (13 to 14 years old) from 56 centers in 17 Latin American countries.

Results: The mean prevalence of current fl exural eczema in schoolchildren was 11.3%, ranging from 3.2% in Ciudad Victoria (Mexico) to 25.0% in Barranquilla (Colombia). For adolescents, the prevalence varied from 3.4% in Santo André (Brazil) to 30.2% in Barranquilla (mean prevalence, 10.6%). The mean prevalence of current symptoms of severe eczema among schoolchildren was 1.5%, ranging from 0.3% in Ciudad Victoria, Toluca, and Cuernavaca (Mexico) to 4.9% in La Habana (Cuba). For adolescents, the mean prevalence was 1.4%, ranging from 0.1% in Mexicali Valley (Mexico) to 4.2% in Santa Cruz (Bolivia). These prevalence values are among the highest observed during ISAAC Phase 3. In general, the prevalence of current symptoms of eczema was higher among the Spanish-speaking centers for both schoolchildren and adolescents.

Conclusion: Environmental risk factors must be evaluated in order to identify potential causes for the differences observed, even in centers from the same country.

Key words: Atopic eczema. Children. Adolescents. Epidemiology. Flexural eczema.