The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7254 p854
21 June 2003

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

News summary

Related websites
European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (more)

Up to half those with hay fever are undiagnosed

Up to one in every two people with allergic rhinitis are undiagnosed, according to an epidemiological study reported at last week's European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology in Paris.

Researchers assessed 3,856 adults from six European countries who had symptoms indicating that they might have allergic rhinitis. The adults were picked from telephone interviews with 9,656 randomly selected people.

Allergy testing by doctors showed that 411 out of 725 people examined (57 per cent) had allergic rhinitis, of whom 224 had been previously diagnosed by a doctor. Nearly half — 47 per cent — of the whole group had received no medication for their allergic rhinitis in the previous two years.

Professor Stephen Durham, professor of allergy and respiratory medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, London, and one of the study investigators, warned: "Allergic rhinitis is common and is frequently undiagnosed and not treated." The overall figures indicated that nearly one in four adults in the study — 23 per cent — had allergic rhinitis. "Long-term, continuous treatment may be required to alleviate the burden of persistent and often debilitating symptoms, especially those of co-morbid conditions such as asthma," Professor Durham added.