Similar prevalence of coeliac disease in children and middle-aged adults in a district of Sweden.

Coeliac disease in children and adults is considered to be a variety of the same disorder. This gains epidemiological support in the present study, which reports on the observed prevalence of coeliac disease in an area of Sweden (population, 140 500). On 1 July 1981, the prevalence rate was found to be 104/100 000 (1:960) among children, and the same figure, 106/00 000 (1:950), was found for coeliac disease unaccompanied by dermatitis herpetiformis in the middle-aged population. The figures were obtained in patients seeking medical are and thus represent minimum rates, and it is likely that the actual prevalence of coeliac disease in Sweden will prove still higher.