Characteristics of the allergic disorder and sensibilization spectrum distributions in the Russian Federation taking into account climatic and geographical features of the regions

BACKGROUND: Environmental factors have a direct impact on the course and spread of allergic disorders. In recent decades, there has been an increase in the number of patients with allergic pathology, which is partly due to global environmental changes on the planet and insufficient consideration of the specific climatic and geographic environmental factors of the region where the patient lives.

AIM: To study the characteristics of epidemiology, etiology and clinical course of allergic disorders in different regions of the Russian Federation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: To achieve this goal, a questionnaire survey of the Chief Consultants was conducted in 2019. Questionnaires were sent to all district, regional, republican centers, and cities of federal significance. The received data were analyzed and structured.

RESULTS: Responses to the questionnaires were received from 49 regions of the Russian Federation, where a total of 1,468,105 patients with allergic diseases were registered during the study period. Significant discrepancies in the distribution of allergic disorders and the spectrum of etiologically significant allergens were revealed in different regions of the Russian Federation, reflecting their climatic and geographical peculiarities. There is an increase in respiratory forms of allergy, multisensitization and multi-organ allergic lesions. The Ural Federal District has the lowest number of cases of allergic rhinitis (p = 0.001) among the studied regions, and bronchial asthma is more common than other forms of respiratory allergy (p <0.001), while in the Southern Federal District the prevalence of this disease was statistically significantly lower than in the northern regions (p <0.001). Atopic dermatitis was more frequently registered in the Volga and Far Eastern Federal Districts (p = 0.009, p = 0.012), food allergy – in the Volga and Northwestern Federal Districts (p = 0.008, p = 0.003). In the North Caucasian and Siberian Federal Districts, food allergy was diagnosed least frequently (p = 0.001, p = 0.002). The Northwestern Federal District registered the smallest number of patients with sensitization to house dust allergens (p <0.001), and the Southern Federal District – to house dust mites (p = 0.004). The lowest number of patients with sensitization to weed pollen allergens was noted in the Northwestern Federal District (p <0.001). The Southern and North Caucasian Federal Districts dominate in terms of sensitization to weed pollen allergens (p <0.001, p = 0.001) and show a low percentage of sensitization to tree allergens (p <0.001) compared to other federal districts. Low sensitization of patients to mold allergens is noted in the Ural Federal District (p <0.001). The highest proportion of insect allergy is noted in the Siberian (p = 0.001), and the lowest – in the Central Federal District (p <0.001). The North Caucasian Federal District showed the lowest percentage of sensitization to food allergens (p = 0.04). Low availability of specialized care and insufficient prescription of pathogenetic allergen-specific immunotherapy were found in all federal districts of the Russian Federation.

CONCLUSION: Different climatic and geographic regions of the Russian Federation differ from each other in the structure of allergic diseases and sensitization spectrum, which should be taken into account in the development of preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic measures in these territories.