Trivia: Allergies & Nut Allergies

USA

More than 50 million Americans have allergies, and allergies represent the sixth-leading cause of chronic disease in the USA, costing the healthcare system $18 billion annually, according to a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) fact sheet from December 2004.

An estimated three million Americans [approximately 1.0% of the population] have peanut allergies, according to an American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology press release dated December 9, 2003. Further, reported peanut allergies among children have shown a two-fold increase from 1997 to 2002, rising from .4% to .8%. (Food allergies are the most common source of anaphylaxis, and the peanut is one of the most common foods responsible for allergic reactions – and the most common cause of severe or fatal food-related anaphylaxis.)

Canada

Over 35% of Canadians [approximately 9.6 million people] suffer from allergies, according to a July 15, 2002 news item on the website of the Allergy Prevention Center (an online resource for allergy sufferers).

Peanut allergy frequency is estimated at approximately 1% of the Canadian population, according to an article (last updated on December 15, 2004) by Dr. John Weisnagel on the website of the Association of Allergists and Immunologists of Quebec. However, the peanut allergy rate among Canadian children is estimated at 1.5%, according to research cited in an American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology press release dated December 9, 2003.

Discuss This Article

Have something you'd like to say? Tell us what you think! Read and post comments for this article.

Find a Job

Choose your career:

MedHunters is the world's biggest healthcare job board. Our job directory has 17,737 jobs with 2,433 hospitals and other direct employers.

We want you to find your next job on MedHunters. Need Help? Call us at 1-888-884-8242, email us at info@medhunters.com or sign up now.