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Allergy and Asthma Statistics

Statistics related to asthma and allergies:

According to the latest information available from the American Lung Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):

Asthma:

• Approximately 26.3 million people in the US have been diagnosed with asthma, with at least 8.6 million of them children under the age of 18.
• Asthma is the leading chronic illness among children in the US.
• Asthma accounts for 10 million absences from school each year.
• Asthma is more common among African-American children than among Caucasian children.
• African-American children with asthma, most often from inner city populations, generally experience more severe disability from asthma and have more frequent hospitalizations than do Caucasian children.
• Asthma is the most common cause of childhood hospitalizations under the age of 15.
• It is estimated that 200,000 to one million children with asthma experience symptoms that are more severe due to exposure to secondhand smoke.
• About 12.9 million doctor's office visits annually result in a principal diagnosis of asthma.
• Asthma cases and asthma deaths have been on the rise. From 1979 to 1998, asthma deaths have risen 109 percent from 2,598 to 5,430.
• In 1998, 423,000 people were hospitalized for asthma.
• Asthma treatment costs an estimated $3.2 billion annually for children under the age of 18.
• Asthma causes nearly three million lost workdays each year for people over age 18.

Allergy:

• Previous surveys estimate that allergies affect as many as 40 to 50 million people in the US.
• Pollen allergy (hay fever or allergic rhinitis) affects nearly 10 percent of the people in the US (26 million people), not including those with asthma.
• Allergic dermatitis (itchy rash) is the most common skin condition in children younger than 11 years of age.
• Urticaria (hives; raised areas of reddened skin that become itchy) and angioedema (swelling of throat tissues) together affect approximately 15 percent of the US population every year.
• Chronic sinusitis, most often caused by allergies, affects nearly 35 million people in the US.
• Allergic drug reactions, commonly caused by antibiotics such as penicillin and cephalosporins, occur in 2 to 3 percent of hospitalized patients.
• Eight percent of children younger than 6 years old experience food intolerances. Of this group, 2 to 4 percent appear to have reproducible allergic reactions to food. In adults, an estimated 1 to 2 percent are sensitive to foods or food additives.
• A severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis occurs in 3.3 percent of the US population as a result of insect stings. At least 40 deaths each year result from insect sting anaphylaxis.