Peru, Latin America

ISAAC Study in Peru

On September 17, 1993, I received the invitation from Dr Javier Mallol, Regional Coordinator for Latin America, to participate in the ISAAC study as a National Coordinator for Peru. We gladly accepted a few days later, and since that time we have participated in this project; it is quite interesting to see how much time has gone by.

In 1994, we made all the arrangements to run the study in a district of Lima, Santiago de Surco; I must acknowledge the help of Drs. Eduardo Negron, Juanita Aching, Luis Vega, Aldo Navarro, and many other people. We are also thankful for the grant that Dr. Mallol gave us.

The ISAAC Phase I study was run between April and June1995, and the data for Lima was submitted in the second part of that year. Afterwards we submitted several Phase I publications, including national publications. After Phase I, we performed several smaller studies in Peru using the ISAAC methodology; while the numbers were smaller, we used the same methodology, and the results could provide some data for comparison with ISAAC.

ISAAC Phase III Data was collected in May to July 2001, with the help of Dr. Erick Forno. In both phases we used the written and video questionnaires.

The Lima Centre in Peru is known for its particularly high prevalence of asthma symptoms in 13–14 year-old children, but with mild symptoms. The discussion continues: why do we have such high prevalence of asthmatic patients?

We want to thank Drs Mallol, Tadd Clayton, Innes Asher, Philippa Ellwood, and everyone who works on ISAAC for inviting and helping us all these years.