[Epidemiology of allergic eye diseases].

Epidemiology of allergic eye diseases has not been sufficiently studied so far. The first statistical studies regarded the coexistence of allergic conjunctivitis together with allergic rhinitis, as rhinoconjunctivitis. Only in the last 10 years eye allergy has been regarded as a separate epidemiological and clinical problem. According to Bonini, seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC) accompanies pollinosis in 95.2%. Buckley's studies revealed symptoms of SAC in 21% of British population and Berdy reported a similar result in 20% of Americans. Weeke estimates that depending on geographical region and age of examined patients, allergic eye diseases occur in 5 to 22% of the population. Among them SAC and perennial allertgic conjunctivitis (PAC) account for up to 50%. A recent Italian study demonstrated an increase of the incidence of allergic eye diseases, which were found in 38% of the studied population, most frequently in young males. Eye allergy presented most frequently as rhinoconjunctivitis (SAC and PAC) (63.7%), and then as atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC) (21%) and vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) (15.5%). It seems that the incidence of allergic eye diseases demonstrates a rising tendency, similarly as it has been found in recent years in the case of bronchial asthma, rhinitis or atopic dermatitis.