Abstract

Background: Allergic diseases have become one of the top three conditions demanding major effort toward prevention and control in the 21st century, according to the World Health Organization. Recently, the prevalence of asthma and allergic disease has increased annually throughout the world. It is not only affect the quality of life for children, but also creating a serious burden on all of society and family life.
Objective: To investigate the prevalence and severity of allergic disease and the associated risk factors among school children at Al Maasare and Al Maadi region in the south of Cairo.
Methods: A cross – sectional study, the International Study of Asthma and Allergic in Childhood (ISAAC) conducted in a random sample of the students of preparatory school at Al Maadi and Al Maasara region in the south of Cairo between February and April 2014. A total of 308 students aged 11-14 years were interviewed for this study .The questionnaire was adapted from ISAAC phase one project and those questions were slightly modified and translated into Arabic.
Results: The total number of the sample was 510, only 308 of them have participated in this study, while the rest of number of sample was excluded because they were not in target age or refused participation. The prevalence of asthma and other allergic diseases like allergic rhinitis and atopic eczema were 46.1%, 34.5% and 20.4% respectively .The severity of asthma including recurrent wheezes, exercise-induced asthma, and nocturnal cough were approximately 26.9%, 19.2%, and 29.9% respectively. Passive smoking, family history and parent’s education are significantly difference among children with asthma symptoms compared to others without asthma. 46.4% of children reported a visit to hospital and around 13.6% to 21.1% reported at least two or three day’s absence from school due to asthma.
Conclusion: The prevalence of asthma in the general population of the Al Maasara and Al Maadi areas is high .