Allergies in immigrants

We studied the influence of environmental factors on allergy disease in immigrants that came to Israel during the last 20 years from A) Ethiopia and B) former Soviet Union. Immigrants who came from Ethiopia had no allergies upon arrival; they suffered from severe parasitic infections and had extremely elevated IgE levels. They got thorough anti parasitic treatment and were gradually integrated in the old timer Israeli population. After 5-10 years from arrival, follow up assessments showed a significant drop in IgE levels while respiratory allergies with positive skin tests Respiratory allergies with positive skin tests) to aero allergens appeared at a prevalence of 11%. Israeli born newborns and children from Ethiopian descent had no stool parasites and their total IgE levels were similar to those of the indigenous population. Immigrants from former Soviet Union who had respiratory allergies upon arrival, showed skin tested hypersensitivity to pollen common in their Russian, homelands while they were not sensitive to the Mediterranean pollen common in Israel. At yearly follow up testing over the first 10 years in Israel, odds for sensitization to Russian pollen decreased while odds for sensitization to Israeli pollen increased significantly. The results of our studies plead the case for the very important role played by the environment in the dynamics of allergy diseases.