Due to the recent increase in the prevalence of allergic diseases, renewed attention studies in this regard is warranted. It is also necessary to investigate the risk factors and the reasons for the allergic disease. With this in mind, we studied 569 primary school students between 6-13 years to determine the prevalence of allergic diseases and the factors affecting this prevalence. For asthma and its symptoms, the subjects were given the questionnaires of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies of Childhood (ISAAC) and for the other allergic diseases, the questionnaires accepted by the National Association of Allergy and Clinical Immunology were given. All cases were assessed through questionnaires. Detailed systemic physical examination; determination of serum total IgE level, peripheric eosinophil (PE) count, and eosinophil count in nasal smear (NE); and pulmonary function tests (VC, FEV1 FEF 25-75, PEF) were done for the 171 cases diagnosed with allergic disease and for 60 healthy children. For same patients, more than one allergic disease was found. Of 569 students, 9.7% (n=55) were diagnosed with asthma: 16.3% had a history of wheezing and 4.2% had wheezing attacks in the last 12 months of the last group, 3.3% had less than four attacks, 0.7% had between 4-12, and 0.1% had more than 12 attacks during the last 12 months. It was determined that neither age, sex, socioeconomic status nor smoking affected the prevalence of asthma. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis was 5.4% (n=37). Neither age nor sex affected the prevalence of allergic rhinitis; however, low socioeconomic level increased its prevalence. Allergic conjunctivitis prevalence was determined as 12% (n=68). Age, sex and socioeconomic level did not affect its prevalence. The prevalence of allergic dermatitis was 3% (n=17). Age and sex did not affect its prevalence, but rates were higher in the high socioeconomic level than in other levels. The prevalence of food allergy was 11.2%; total eosinophil count was high and 14.6% had eosinophilia in the nasal smears of the group for which pulmonary function tests were not statistically significant when compared with the control group (p>0.05). In conclusion, the prevalence of allergic diseases for children aged 6-13 years was 30.05% in the Sivas region. This is in accordance with the studies which have been carried out in many other regions of Turkey on the same subject.

Keywords: Çocukluk çağı, allerji, prevalans, Sivas, childhood, allergy, prevalence