Sevenfold allergy increase
11 December 2003

The number of people being admitted to hospital with allergies has shot up over the last decade, according to new research, with some types of allergy increasing sevenfold.

National Asthma Campaign experts say this evidence underlines the need for the provision of specialist allergy services by the NHS, which they describe as currently 'hugely inadequate'.

The study covered almost 50,000 cases and spanned 11 years. The researchers were looking at different types of allergic reactions, such as respiratory problems, skin rashes and swelling.

The information used for the research was based on hospital admissions and subsequent diagnoses between 1990 and 2001 in England, and was taken from national databases. Scientists found the greatest increase in cases of food allergy and anaphylaxis – an extreme reaction to a substance that can be life-threatening.

Rates of admission for anaphylaxis rates rose sevenfold over the research period while food allergies cases saw an increase of 500%. Cases of skin rashes (urticaria) doubled, and admissions for allergic swellings (angio-aedema) rose by 70%.

Ramyani Gupta, an epidemiologist at St George's Hospital Medical School in London, analysed the data: 'These increases could be caused by increasing exposure to environmental risk factors (such as peanuts and other foods and latex), to an increased susceptibility in the population to these allergens, or to a combination of these factors.'

One in three Britons now has an allergy, according to research published by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in June 2003. Given this figure, it may be surprising that there are only six specialist allergy clinics in the UK. Professor Stephen Holgate, one of the authors of the RCP report, said: 'The UK is way behind in its capacity to provide adequate allergy services when compared to most countries in Europe, the US and Australasia.'

'Our surveys certainly back this up,' said Kate Webb, the Campaign's senior policy officer. 'There is a recurring demand among people with asthma or parents of children with asthma for access to NHS allergy-testing services, which currently are not widely available.'

This is particularly important for parents of young children. Research has shown that children with mild food allergies that go untreated or unrecognised are five times more likely to develop asthma than those whose allergy is identified and treated.

'We would like allergy testing and specialist treatment to be made widely available in primary care for people with asthma,' added Webb. 'The services offered by the NHS at the moment are hugely inadequate.'

The research was published in the BMJ.