Identifying seasonal variation in allergic rhinoconjunctivitis.

摘要

To the Editor: Studies of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis epidemiology using routine data on hospital admissions and primary care consultations are limited by the facts that not all patients seek help from health care professionals and that sales of over-the-counter hay fever medications are difficult to quantify. The excellent article by Singh et al provides important data on the seasonal variation of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms. Seasonal variation of symptoms relates to fluctuations in aeroal-lergen concentrations, which themselves differ from region to region. Therefore these results, which were obtained by means of a thorough analysis of health survey data, will be less applicable outside the United States.