Allergy histories of Brazilian residents of Japanese descent in Japan

A questionnaire written in Portuguese was administered from December 1993 to February 1994 to study the frequency of allergic symptoms among Brazilians of Japanese descent in Japan. The results obtained were as follows. 1) The frequencies of allergy histories were 18% for allergic rhinitis, 14% for atopic dermatitis, 12% for alimentary allergy, 10% for allergic conjunctivitis, 9% for allergy to metals, 8% for drug allergy, 7% each for urticaria and pollinosis, and 5% for asthma. 2) The frequencies of allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, pollinosis, urticaria and drug allergy were higher among those who came from metropolitan districts in Brazil with severe environmental pollution compared to those who came from rural districts. 3) The characteristics of persons who had subjective symptoms of pollinosis in early spring during their stay in Japan were as follows: The districts they resided in while in Japan were in the Kanto area where the frequencies of Japanese-cedar pollen-specific IgE antibodies positives were high and also where the frequencies of Japanese cedar pollinosis were high among Japanese living in Japan. The districts they originally came from were the metropolitan areas in Brazil, and they were resident in Japan for more than one year.