Allergies and parasitoses in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

There has been nearly an epidemic rise in allergic disease throughout the world. However, this significant increase in the prevalence of allergic diseases has not been reported on the African continent. There are many factors which have been offered to explain these differences, including nutrition, environmental factors and genetic contributions. In addition, these differences in allergic disease incidents have often been discussed in terms of the hygiene hypothesis. In this manuscript, we have focused our attention on specific interactions between parasitoses and allergic diseases and illustrate their interactions with socioeconomic, cultural, and sanitary realities. The data is particularly applicable to Senegal but can be extrapolated to other regions throughout the world and the results have implications for the induction of allergic disease in both western and Third World countries.