The influence of medical and geographical factors on the appearance and development of allergic rhinitis and eczema among school children in Belgrade

• Main Author: Topalović Sanja
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Serbian Geographical Society 2014-01-01
• Series: Glasnik Srpskog Geografskog Društva
• Subjects: medical geography; allergic rhinitis; eczema; environment; Belgrade
• Online Access: http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-3593/2014/0350-35931402065T.pdf

Allergic rhinitis and eczema represent ailments which are increasingly linked with urban areas. Although they do not belong to illnesses which are predominantly caused by geographical factors, their importance for the development of these illnesses will be considered in this paper. As an example of the influence of urban environment on the development of these illnesses, the city core of Belgrade (the area included in the General Urban Plan) is taken into consideration. The emphasis is put especially on the quality of air, industry, traffic and the conditions for living. The research is based on tracking these illnesses among children, considering the frequent appearance of these illnesses especially among school children. The survey, whose results were partly presented in this research paper, was an important method for examining the subject matter of this paper. Namely, the above mentioned survey was realized in the International Study of Asthma and Allergy among children (ISAAC), which was conducted by World Health Organization (WHO), 156 centres from 56 countries took part. Among them, there were four centres from Serbia: Belgrade, Nis, Podgorica and Sombor.