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Patients & Consumers Online Tools Find an Allergist / Immunologist Pollen Counts Diseases 101 Drug Guide Featured Resources » AAAAI Tips Brochures Topic of the Month Information Request Form Donate Now Constituencies » Patients & Consumers Contact Search by Condition (A-Z) Request a Speaker Smoke Free Homes Referral Guidelines Breakthroughs in Bioscience Other Resources En Español Just for Kids Seniors		Allergy & Asthma Advocate: Fall 2005 The studies summarized below appeared in the August 2005 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Majority of Americans sensitive to more than one allergen New research finds that the majority of Americans are sensitive to one or more common allergens, according to a study featured in the August 2005 Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (JACI). Samuel J. Arbes, Jr., DDS, MPH, PhD, and researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases found that 54.3% of the United States population, aged 6 to 59 years, had a positive allergy skin test to at least one of 10 common allergens. The findings were from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), a nationally representative survey conducted from 1988-1994. The study also found: An individual with a positive skin test reacted to an average of 3 to 5 allergens. The most common reactions were to dust mites, rye grass, ragweed and cockroach, which accounted for approximately 25% of the United States population represented in the study. The least common reactions were to peanut, accounting for 9%. The prevalence of a positive skin test response was significantly higher in NHANES III than in NHANES II, which was conducted from 1976-1980. A positive skin test response is a risk factor for allergic diseases, such as asthma, hay fever and eczema. Although it cannot be concluded that the increases in positive skin test response rates observed between NHANES II and NHANES III represent an increase in allergy prevalence of the United States population, the increase is consistent with studies from other countries. <back>
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