[Allergy: the pressing need for public education]

Data collected using a self-questionnaire filled out by the families of 294 children under 12 years of age seen in a pneumoallergology clinic showed widespread lack of information on the role of environmental factors in allergic diseases. Parents ascribed their child's disease to the environment at home only when they were dissatisfied by their housing conditions. Parents who were satisfied with their home failed to perceive that indoor factors with detrimental effects may nevertheless be present. This lack of information was seen across the spectrum of enrolled patients, including in those with hypersensitivity to house mites. The need for health education of the public at large aimed at promoting preventive strategies is underlined.