Residence and Allergy – Allergic Positivity
in the City of Szeged and its Surroundings

Judit Krisch and László Salgó

Central Laboratory, Municipal Hospital, Szeged, Hungary

Corresponding author: Judit Krisch
    Central Laboratory
    Municipal Hospital of Szeged
    Kálvária tér 57.
    H-6725 Szeged, Hungary
    Telephone: +36 62-490-590
    E-mail address: krischj@szegedkorhaz.hu

CEJOEM 2002, Vol.8. No.2–3.:183–187

Key words:
Allergy, inhalant allergens, food allergens, rural environment, air pollution

Abstract:
It has been described that patients living in rural environment have allergy less frequently than the urban patients. Our aim was to prove this observation in Szeged (Hungary) and surroundings. In vitro allergy tests were performed on patients living in Szeged – a large city, Kiskundorozsma – a suburb of Szeged, and Forráskút – a village about 30 km from Szeged. In the year 2001, 2003 patients were tested for allergy using an in vitro specific IgE test. Both in Szeged and in the two other settlements, 31–33% of the patients had a positive test. Considering the strongly positive tests only, the results were different: in the city Szeged and in the suburb Kiskundorozsma, about 10% of all patients fell into this category but only 6.7% living in the village Forráskút. On the basis of our results, it is suggested that allergen sensitization is almost the same in all patients, independently of their residence, but allergy is more frequently manifested in those living in urban and suburban environment.

Received:  3 July 2002
Accepted:  12 September 2002
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