AN URBAN AND RURAL STUDY ON THE PREVALENCE OF ASTHMA IN XHOSA CHILDREN

INTRODUCTION Vaughan and Black,1 as early as 1948, asked whether allergic disease was associated with “civilisation” and whether it was, in great measure, a product of the artificial environment in which we live. In the mid-1970s the world literature showed conflicting prevalence rates of asthma from various childhood populations. Reported prevalence rates ranged from 0,25% to 7,14%. The prevalence rates for asthma in children living in westernised, industrialised societies were in striking contrast to those found in children from tropical and less developed societies. The prevalence of childhood asthma in Black children in South Africa at the time was unknown.