Total blood eosinophilia in allergic (type I allergy) and non-allergic asthma, rhinitis and cough.

p6tal blood eosinophil counts (TBE) were obtained in allergic and non-allergic patients suffering from asthma, rhinitis, cough, or various combinations of these disorders. As expected higher blood eosinophil counts were found in allergic patients. In the non-allergic patients however, significantly higher blood eosinophil counts were also found as compared to controls, which limits the possible role of TBE determination in the diagnosis of type I allergy. There is no significant correlation between TBE and total serum IgE. Atopic eczema is associated with higher TBE only in the group with allergic respiratory diseases. In allergic patients blood eosinophilia is steadily decreasing with age, where the inverse is observed in non-allergic patients. Our data suggest that for some reason TBE is increased in both allergic and non-allergic patients. A further increase of TBE in allergic patients is associated with a type I allergic reaction.