[Prevalence of asthma. Survey of a school population in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico].

In the state of Tabasco, Mexico, there apparently exists a great demand for medical care in children with asthma, yet the exact number of children with this illness is unknown. This motivated us to survey the parents of 5,625 school children with ages ranging from 6 to 12 years old (2,386 girls and 2,789 boys) living in the city of Villahermosa, Tabasco. The study included 11% of the school children in the vicinity. The survey showed that 22.3% of the population of school children refer chronic or repetitive respiratory symptoms; 8.7% referred a diagnosis of asthma; 6.8% bronchitis; 2.3% asthmatic form bronchitis; and 3.9% symptoms suggestive of repeated bronchial obstruction.