Increasing prevelance of hay fever and atopy amongst children in Leipzig, East Germany

The authors studied in 1995-6 2,334 school children who were born about 3 years before German unification and were therefore exposed to Western living conditions after the third birthday. A comparison was possible with a previous survey done shortly after the fall of communism in 1991-2. The prevalence of hay fever and atopic sensitisation increased significantly between 1991-2 and 1995-6 (among those aged 3 at the time of unification). However, there was no significant change in the prevalence of asthma, asthma related symptoms, or bronchial hyper-responsiveness. The authors conclude that the development of atopic sensitisation and hay fever are affected by environmental factors occuring after the age of 3 years whereas factors operating very early in life may be particularly important for the acquisition of childhood asthma.