BACKGROUND & AIMS Celiac disease is one of the most common diseases worldwide, with an apparent trend of increasing prevalence. We investigated the prevalence of celiac disease in children in Italy in 2015-2016 and compared that with data from 25 years ago. METHODS We screened 4570 children (5-11 years old, 80.1% of the eligible population) from metropolitan areas of Ancona and Verona for HLA genes associated with increased risk of celiac disease, and for total serum levels of IgA and IgA class anti-tissue transglutaminase in HLA positives. Diagnoses of celiac disease were confirmed by detection of anti-endomysial antibody and analysis of intestinal biopsies. The prevalence of celiac autoimmunity and celiac disease were calculated and compared with values from the same geographical area during the years 1993-1995, after adjustment for the different diagnostic algorithm. RESULTS We identified 1960 children with celiac disease-associated haplotypes (43% of children screened; 95% CI, 40.8%-45.2%). The prevalence of celiac disease autoimmunity in the HLA-positive subjects was 96/1706 (5.62%; 95% CI, 4.53%-6.71%) and 54 of these children satisfied the diagnostic criteria for celiac disease. In the eligible population there were other 23 known cases of celiac disease. The overall estimated prevalence of celiac disease was 1.58% (95% CI, 1.26%-1.90%); this value is significantly higher than the 1993-1995 adjusted prevalence (0.88%; 95% CI, 0.74%-1.02%). CONCLUSIONS We found the prevalence of celiac disease in children in Italy to be greater than 1.5%; this value has increased significantly over the past 25 years. Studies are needed to determine the causes of this large increase.

中文翻译：

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意大利学龄儿童乳糜泻患病率增加。

背景与目的 乳糜泻是世界范围内最常见的疾病之一，患病率呈明显上升趋势。我们调查了 2015-2016 年意大利儿童乳糜泻的患病率，并将其与 25 年前的数据进行了比较。方法 我们对来自安科纳和维罗纳大都市区的 4570 名儿童（5-11 岁，80.1% 的合格人口）进行了与乳糜泻风险增加相关的 HLA 基因以及 IgA 和 IgA 类抗组织总血清水平的筛查HLA 阳性转谷氨酰胺酶。腹腔疾病的诊断通过抗肌内膜抗体检测和肠道活检分析得到证实。计算了乳糜泻自身免疫和乳糜泻的患病率，并与 1993-1995 年同一地理区域的数值进行比较，针对不同的诊断算法进行调整后。结果 我们确定了 1960 名患有乳糜泻相关单倍型的儿童（43% 的儿童接受了筛查；95% CI，40.8%-45.2%）。HLA 阳性受试者中乳糜泻自身免疫的患病率为 96/1706（5.62%；95% CI，4.53%-6.71%），其中 54 名儿童满足乳糜泻的诊断标准。在符合条件的人群中，还有其他 23 例已知的乳糜泻病例。乳糜泻的总体估计患病率为 1.58%（95% CI，1.26%-1.90%）；该值显着高于 1993-1995 年调整后的患病率（0.88%；95% CI，0.74%-1.02%）。结论 我们发现意大利儿童乳糜泻的患病率超过 1.5%；在过去的 25 年中，这一价值显着增加。