Changing prevalence of asthma in Australian children

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Abstract
Objective : To investigate whether prevalence of asthma in children increased in 10 years. Design : Serial cross sectional studies of two populations of children by means of standard protocol. Setting : Two towns in New South Wales: Belmont (coastal and humid) and Wagga Wagga (inland and dry). Subjects : Children aged 8-10 years: 718 in Belmont and 769 in Wagga Wagga in 1982; 873 in Belmont and 795 in Wagga Wagga in 1992. Main outcome measures : History of respiratory illness recorded by parents in self administered questionnaire; airway hyperresponsiveness by histamine inhalation test; atopy by skin prick tests; counts of house dust mites in domestic dust. Results : Prevalence of wheeze in previous 12 months increased in Belmont, from 10.4% (75/718) in 1982 to 27.6% (240/873) in 1992 (PConclusions : We suggest that exposure to higher allergen levels has increased airway abnormalities in atopic children or that mechanisms that protected airways of earlier generations of children have been altered by new environmental fators.