COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PREVALENCE OF THE MOST COMMON ALERGY DISEASES IN CHILDREN OF THE KYIV REGION (UKRAINE)

Allergic diseases (AD) have been one of the most urgent problems on nowadays worldwide. In some countries with a high AD prevalence according to ISAAC Phase One, compared to ISAAC Phase Three, especially in English-speaking countries, there is a tendency to reduction of respiratory symptoms prevalence, while in other countries, on the contrary, it continues to grow. The aim of the study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the prevalence of asthma, rhinitis and eczema in the Kyiv region of Ukraine in the dynamics for the period 2017-2018 and 1998-1999, to understand current epidemiological trends. 3186 children of different age groups, living in different regions of the Kyiv region, have been surveyed. For comparative analysis, data from asthma, rhinitis and eczema and two age groups of 6-7 years (n=1647) and 13-14 years old (n=1539) were used as required by the design of ISAAC. The epidemiological study of the prevalence of AD symptoms among children in the Kyiv region in dynamics of the 19-year period showed that there was a slight decrease in the prevalence of asthma in both age groups, although their level remains rather high. But the rate of severe asthma, especially among adolescents, has risen. Thus, the prevalence of asthma symptoms among children aged 6-7 years decreased from 16.8% to 15.4% (-0.07% per year), and among adolescents from 15.2% to 11.2% (-0, 2% per year). The prevalence of rhinitis and eczema symptoms among children in the Kyiv region continues to grow in both age groups over the years, which is consistent with the global world trends. The steady growth of allergic diseases prevalence requires further investigation of causative factors and possible ways of their solution for both Ukraine as a whole and for the Kyiv region in particular. Worrying problems of insufficient asthma control also flow out from the performed analysis, especially in regards the adolescent age category, which determines the future research directions.