The allergy epidemic

 Half of all Europeans may be suffering from some sort of allergy by 2015
 if the escalating epidemic, which is responsible for millions of children
 missing school and being hospitalised and for adults staying off work,
 remains unchecked, scientists believe.

 The dire prediction comes as the biggest-ever research project into the
 causes of allergy and asthma is about to be launched in Europe. Scientists
 from many countries will coordinate their efforts in an attempt to find out
 why rates are soaring and why children in the UK have the third highest rate
 of asthma in the world. 

 The inexorable rise in allergies is causing serious concern. By 2015,
 researchers predict that half of us will have an allergy which in some cases,
 such as bee or wasp stings, will be fatal and in others will seriously
 compromise our quality of life. 

 More than a third of people with allergies cannot go to restaurants or have
 to avoid triggers such as perfumes, cleaning fluid and animals. Asthma alone
 is responsible for an estimated 9bn working days lost each year in the
 European Union. 

 Allergies among children are most worrying of all, and are responsible for
 the growing numbers suffering from asthma. Thirty years ago, about a third
 of asthma cases were said to be caused by allergy. Now it is 80%. Asthma is
 the main reason children miss school and is the leading cause of the
 hospitalisation of children in the world.

 UK children are particularly hard hit. A study by the International Study of
 Asthma and Allergies in Childhood found that the UK has more teenage asthma
 cases than any other country in Europe, with 32.2% of 13 to 14-year-olds
 affected. Ireland came next, with 29.1%, followed by Malta and Finland on 16%. 

 Only two countries in the world had worse teenage asthma figures - Australia
 and New Zealand. 

 In those countries, said Paul van Cauwenberge, dean of the medical faculty
 of the University of Ghent in Belgium, "close to 50% of children are allergic.
 It has become almost more normal to be allergic than not". In the UK, he said,
 40% of children have some sort of allergy. 

 The percentage of teenagers aged 13 to 14 in Europe reported to be wheezing
 in a 12-month period -

 United Kingdom - 32.2; Ireland - 29.1; Malta - 16; Finland - 16; Germany - 13.8;
 France - 13.5; Sweden - 12.9; Belgium - 12; Austria - 11.6; Estonia - 10.8;
 Spain - 10.3; Portugal - 9.5; Uzbekistan - 9.2; Italy - 8.9; Latvia - 8.4;
 Poland - 8.1; Russian federation - 4.4; Greece - 3.7; Georgia - 3.6; Romania - 3;
 Albania - 2.6.

 Source: WHO

 Figures based on children responding to written questionnaires
 in the ISAAC study 1995-96

 Sarah Boseley, health editor
 Tuesday February 10, 2004
 The Guardian 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1144653,00.html

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