About Allergies:

Did You Know?

• Allergic diseases affect more than 20% of the U.S. population (40 to 50 million people in the United States).¹
• At least 35.9 million people in the United States have seasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever).²
• The number of children with allergic rhinitis has doubled in the last 20 years
• The estimated overall costs of allergic rhinitis in the United States in 1996 totaled $6 billion.³
• It is estimated that in 1998, increased absenteeism and reduced productivity due to allergies cost U.S. companies more than $250 million.⁴
• In 1996, overall health care expenditures attributable to sinusitis in the United States were estimated to be over $5.8 billion.⁵

Now that you know... read up on the Allergic Process.

1. American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Task Force on Allergic Disorders. Executive Summary Report. (1998).
2. Natahn, R.A., Meltzer, E.O., Selner, J.C., Storms, W. "Prevalence of Allergic Rhinitis in the United States." Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (1997) 99:S808-14.
3. Ray, N.F., Baraniuk, J.N., Thamer, M., et al: Healthcare expenditures for sinusitis in 1996: contributions or asthma, rhinitis and other airway disorders. J. of Allergy Clin. Immunology, 103 (3 Pt 1): 408-514, 1999.
4. CDC. Fast Stats A-Z, Vital and Health Statistics, Series 10, no. 13, 1999. Web: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/allergies.htm
5. Hewitt Associates LLC. The Effects of Allergies in the Workplace. 1998.