[Prevalence of allergy to cockroaches in the African intertropical zone. Review of the literature].

The epidemiology of environmental allergens and their role in respiratory pathology remains poorly understood in sub-Sahara Africa. The aim of this work was to measure the frequency of sensitivity to cockroach allergens of subjects with chronic respiratory affections in the Ivory Coast. We recruited consecutively 140 patients, adults and infants, who had asthma, rhinitis or sinusitis over a period of 20 months, in a hospital environment.