XXXX and immediate skin test reactivity in Finnish adolescents.

@entity1 @entity483 @entity2023 @entity565 @entity566 @entity56 @entity221
We studied the prevalence of @entity56 in an unselected group of 708 adolescents aged 15-17 years. All subjects were physically examined and interviewed by the authors. The prevalence of past or present @entity565 was 5.7% in @entity1 and 3.1% in @entity1 . The figures for hay @entity221 were 14% and 8%, and for @entity483 ( @entity56 ) 25% and 30%, respectively. In 24% of all symptomatic subjects, the condition had not been active during the year preceding the study. The sex difference in the prevalence of hay @entity221 was significant. It is associated with higher immediate skin test reactivity in @entity1 . A progressive increase in the frequency of @entity56 was observed with increasing number of positive skin reactions in both @entity1 and @entity1 . Respiratory @entity566 was closely related to a positive skin test: 87% of the asthmatics and 83% of all those with @entity2023 exhibited at least one positive skin reaction. For @entity483 the association was less pronounced. Nineteen per cent of the population studied had a positive symptom history and a positive skin test to pollens, animal epithelia or dusts indicating a clinically significant relationship. However, 39% of the 346 subjects with a positive skin test, including some with a large number of positive reactions, were completely asymptomatic.
