The impact of allergies

• As many as 50 million people in the United States suffer from allergic disease.
• Allergic diseases are the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the United States.
• At least 35.9 million people in the United States have seasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever).
• Over 8 million visits to office-based physicians each year are attributed to allergic rhinitis.
• Immunotherapy is ultimately successful in up to 90% of patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis and in 70 to 80% with perennial allergic rhinitis.
• In 1993, it was estimated that total cost associated with allergic rhinitis in the United States was $3.4 billion, of which $2.3 billion represents medications and $1.1 billion represents physician billing.
• Increased absenteeism and reduced productivity due to allergies costs U.S. companies more than $250 million year.
• Sinusitis develops in approximately 31 million Americans each year.
• People suffering from sinusitis miss an average of 4 days of work each year.
• There are more than 18 million office visits to primary care physicians resulting in a diagnosis of sinusitis annually.
• In 1996, overall health care expenditures attributable to sinusitis in the United States were estimated to be over $5.8 billion.
• Allergic dermatitis (itchy rash) is the most common skin condition in children younger than 11 years of age. The percentage of children diagnosed with it has increased from 3% in the 1960s to 10% in the 1990s.
• Contact dermatitis and other eczema was diagnosed at over 7.1 million office visits to physicians and 430,000 hospital outpatient visits.
• Approximately 100 people in the United States die each year from food-related anaphylaxis.
• Peanut and/or tree nut (e.g. walnut, almond and cashew) allergy affects about 3 million Americans, or 1.1% of the population.
• At least 40 deaths occur annually in the United States from reactions to insect stings.
• Venom immunotherapy prevents systemic reactions in stinging insect-sensitive patients 97% of the time.