[Clinical characteristics of patients with pollen allergy (author's transl)]

134 patients with pollen allergy were studied in a medical practice. The frequency of hay fever was 56%, hay fever with cough 9% and pollen asthma 35%. The following differences were stated: 53.2% of the asthmatics but only 9.3% of patients with hay fever had a history of nonallergic bronchial irritation in the case of acute bronchitis, exercise or irritant gases. Asthmatics showed significantly more frequently positive skin reactions additionally to pollen. The distribution of age of onset of hay fever was similar in both groups. The prevalence of both diseases was the same up to the age of 20 years, after which it remained constant up to 29 for asthmatics and declined in hay fever. In patients with asthma and hay fever the two diseases began within the same year in 48,9%, asthma followed hay fever in 26,7% within 4, in 15,6% within 5--9 and in 8,6% within ten years or later after the begin of hay fever. It could be shown, that the frequency and the distribution of some characteristics of patients with pollen allergy of a medical practice are comparable to epidemiological findings and may be used for long time studies with the purpose to watch the transition of pollinosis to pollen asthma.