Allergies statistics & facts
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Prevalence
- A year before the 2010 U.S. National Health Interview, about 17.9 million adults were reported to have experienced hay fever (i.e. allergic rhinitis). This statistics is equivalent to 7.8% the country’s population.
- Within a space of one year, both children and adults are frequently diagnosed in a year of allergies. Not less than 7.1 million children, about 9.5% of the population, are diagnosed.
- 11.5% of the population, that is, 8.6 million children had respiratory allergies in the year 2010 which comprises all the 12 months in it.
- Children who experience allergies from food were estimated to be close to 3.4 million. This number is 4.6 % of the total population in 2010.
- 9.4 million Children reportedly had skin allergies. This is 12.6% out of the total population in 2010.
- At least 54.6% of people who had been part of a survey in the US reported that they had experienced a couple of allergic reactions.
- Allergic rhinitis, otherwise called hay fever, was experienced by 10-30% adults in the U.S. Children weren’t left out. Their statistics stood around 40%.
- Not less than 60 million U.S. residents will have allergic rhinitis symptoms.
- Give or take, bee stings will cause allergic reactions that will kill 40 people every year in the U.S.
Age, Gender and Other Factors
- 8 different types of foods (i.e. wheat, fish, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, and milk) have caused at least 90% of all reported cases of food allergies.
- Because food allergies decrease with age, adults experience fewer food allergies than children. 4.7% under five-year-olds have reported food allergies while those within the age range 5-17, are about 3.7%.
- Males don’t have as much food allergies as the females do. Their percentage ratios of allergies are 3.8 and 4.1 respectively.
- Non-Hispanic blacks have 4.0% allergic reactions. Children of non-Hispanic descent are 4.1% who have allergy cases. Hispanic children are only 3.1 % who experience allergic reactions.
- 50% of the U.S. homes will have not less than 6 detectable allergens found in the environment.
- Adults are more susceptible (about 3%) to experiencing life-taking allergies from insect stings than children (about 0.4-0.8%).
- Healthcare workers have a very high risk (i.e. 5-15%) for experiencing allergies from latex than the population at large (i.e.
less than 1%). - Children (2.5% under three’s) usually experience
more milk allergies than adults. - Between 1997 and 2003, allergies recorded from
peanut doubled .
Medical Issues and Care Costs
- In the year 2007, doctors, clinics, emergency departments, and hospital outpatient departments, had about 13.4 million visits basically for allergic rhinitis diagnosis.
- Between 2004 and 2006, children that were not up to 18 years old accounted for about 9,500 hospital discharges in the US.
- From 1997 to 2007, food allergies rose by 18% in children.
- In 2007, more food allergies were experienced by children more than respiratory allergies and other allergies put together.
- Children who experienced food allergies also had higher occurrences of other allergies than those who never had food allergies. The differences were 29.4 to 12.4 for asthma, 27.2 to 8.1 for eczema, and 31.5 to 8.7 for respiratory allergies.
- Between 2000 and 2005, treatment cost for allergic rhinitis was raised from $6.1 billion to $11.2 billion. Out of this increment, more than 50% of the total amount went for prescription medications.
- Penicillin caused anaphylactic reactions that resulted in approximately 400 deaths every year. Furthermore, 6-10% of all drug reactions that were adverse were due to allergies.
- 29-65% of the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS reacted more to sulfonamide drugs than the general population (2-4%).
- About 5.7 million doctor experience contact dermatitis every year.
- From 2003 to 2006, not less than 317,000 people had visits to facilities for medical care (i.e. doctors and emergency wards) due to allergies from food in the US.
Worldwide
- Allergic rhinitis is more prevalent in Australasia and Europe. About 35% of people who partook of a recently held European Community Respiratory Health Survey, reported symptoms.
- 235 million people all over the world who had asthma were related to an allergen. This was reported by the World Health Organization.
- Based on the WHO reports, Allergic rhinitis and sinusitis are two leading causes of chronic respiratory disorders.
Tonika Bruce, MSN, RN, MBA. is an accomplished nurse leader, published author, and personal development expert passionate about advancing healthcare management and quality patient outcomes.
She taps into the years of experience in healthcare management to produce credible and easy-to-understand health and leadership content. Her exceptional work has been featured in reputable publications, including Forbes, Recruiter, Inc, and the Color of Wellness magazine.
