A relatively high prevalence and severity of asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic eczema in schoolchildren in the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

Allergic conditions in Omani schoolchildren are common and associated with significant morbidity. Further research is required to identify the local risk factors for allergy to allow better understanding and management of these conditions.

Prevalence of Asthma among Qatari Schoolchildren: International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, Qatar

“…3,9,14,15,25,26 The prevalence of asthma in Qatari schoolchildren is even higher than in some developed countries like Ireland (specifically Dublin, at 15.2) 27 and Germany (8.8), 2 and it is considerably higher when compared to prevalence rates in Asian-Pacific countries 14,15 and in Bangladesh. 23 The prevalence rate of asthma in Qatar (19.8%) is very close to that in a recent study conducted in Oman 16 that revealed the prevalence of asthma to be 20.7% in children aged 13-14 years, but interestingly only 10.5% in the younger 6-7-year age group. In our study, the prevalence of asthma in the younger 6-8-year and 9-11-year age groups (21.9% and 18.1%, respectively) was much higher than reported in this age group in the Omani study.…”

“…In our study, the prevalence of asthma in the younger 6-8-year and 9-11-year age groups (21.9% and 18.1%, respectively) was much higher than reported in this age group in the Omani study. 16 The high prevalence rate reported in this study could mean that doctors here may be more likely to make the diagnosis of asthma in children. However, a factor that must make an important contribution is the very high firstcousin intermarriage rate in Qatar (54%), although this figure is not too far from the rates that are expected in neighboring countries.…”

“…14,15 It is a general impression that bronchial asthma is much less common in developing countries than in industrialized countries, especially among children, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] but the prevalence of asthma in Oman (20.7%) 16 appears to be similar to that in industrialized or Western countries. The prevalence of asthma as reported by parents is substantially greater than the prevalence of wheeze, suggesting that asthma is either better recognized or overdiagnosed, and that physicians are now more likely to put a label of asthma on their patients.…”

Epidemiology of Childhood Asthma in Fayoum City (District) Egypt

“…Cairo is mainly an urban district surrounded by multiple industrialized areas and air pollution is one of the highest levels worldwide due to industrialization and heavy traffic, while Fayoum is a semi urban area surrounded by rural societies, and has less industrial areas 15 . In the Middle East, asthma prevalence was previously reported to be lower than in "developed" countries ranging from 5-23% [16][17][18][19] . In Gulf countries, bronchial asthma emerged to be one of the prevalent diseases especially in Saudi Arabia where asthma prevalence is approximately 24% 20 .…”

Role of Vitamin D and IgE in bronchial asthma in children in Eastern India

“…Vitamin D which belongs to secosteroid family plays a role in calcium or phosphate homeostasis along with bone mineralisation is a potent modulator of the immune system also known to be involved in regulating cell proliferation and differentiation [7,9] . Epidemiological evidence also suggests that there is a worldwide epidemic of vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency and lack of vitamin D has been related to increased incidence and severity of bronchial asthma in children [10][11][12][13][14] . It is also said that the vitamin D3 deficiency increases lung airway responsiveness and steroid resistance.…”