the prevalance oe allergic rhinitis in 11-15 year- old children in shiraz (iran)

the first epidemiologic survey of childhood allergic rhinitis in iran was carried out from may 1995 until april 1996.. a questionnaire was distributed among 4584, 11-15 year-old children of both sexes, to be completed under supervision of medical students. nasal smears were collected from the cases with allergic rhinitis (n = 445, 5.8%.), and from 340 healthy children for comparison. significant nasal eosinophilia was present in 62% (274) of the chidren with allergic rhinitis. classic allergic rhinitis was seen in 226 cases. in conclusion, allergic-rhinitis is one of the major health problems in shiraz school children. eosinophilia of nasal secretions has a specificity of 96% and sensitivity 62%, and seems to he somewhat valuable as a screening test for nasal allergy.