Diagnosis of Coeliac disease : an update

Abstract

Overall prevalence rate of coeliac disease in both children and adults in the western world is quoted at 1% although some groups have reported a five-fold increase in children when compared to adults. The disease is more prevalent than first thought in Eastern Europe and Asia, with as many as 1% of Latvians and 1.44% of north Indians testing positive with routine screening serology. The rise is largely attributed to increased awareness and education resulting on average in 16% annual increases in serological testing for coeliac disease.1 Large scale studies of healthy school children from Eastern Europe and North Africa have reported prevalence rates similar to those in the western world of between 0.4 and 1.1%.