ABSTRACT
Epidemiology Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is a worldwide disease but is considerably more common among Caucasians than Asians. The incidence in western Sweden, southern Sweden, and Finland was 11, 11, and 13 per million per year, respectively [4; 18; 21]. In Utah (USA) a survey determined a similar annual incidence of 9.8 per million, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.44:1 and mean age of onset of male and female patients of 40.1 and 36.2 years, respectively [23]. In Singapore’s Chinese population, a survey covering a 10-year period showed an annual incidence of 0.3 per million, which is substantially lower than that in Europe [20]. The fact that 18% of patients with DH have a first-degree relative affected by the disease strongly suggests a genetic factor [12].
