THE PREVALENCE OF ACNE VULGARIS IN ADOLESCENCE

SUMMARY.— We examined 1555 school children aged 8 to 18 and graded them according to the presence and severity of acne lesions on the face and neck. Comedones were present in a large proportion of even the youngest children and were virtually universal by the mid‐teens. Clinical acne appeared 2 years earlier in girls than boys and the maximum prevalence was reached at age 14 in girls and 16 in boys. Thereafter the prevalence of the more severe grades of acne continued to increase steadily in boys, but declined in girls. The age of the menarche in girls did not affect the severity of acne which ultimately developed. More girls than boys sought medical advice despite the generally milder form of the disease in girls.