[Epidemiologic study of allergy in the school environment]

A school environmental study of about 20,000 children from the French department of MAINE and LOIRE (1/100 of French territory and 1/100 of the total population) was made during the summer of 1987 in all the schools of the region. The replies allowed evaluation of: -- The elements of the environment; . urban or rural . type of building . soils . domestic animals (types, lifestyle, large or small, relationship with the children). -- The proportion of allergic children per classroom, types of sickness, suggestions made by parents, eventual allergic accidents during class hours. In addition, school teachers were asked to comment on the subject. Their answers showed extreme variety of attitude towards allergy, there were those who refuted it, some fully accepted and others who asked for more information so that they could be more help to their students. A prime interest of the study lies in the dialogue between parents, teachers and physicians as the children spent most of the daytime at school and therefore the quality of the environment is a major factor in infantile allergy.