Allergy recognised as a serious condition

Tuesday, 15 February 2011 09:58

A survey commissioned by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) has found that most people recognise allergy as a serious medical condition. Those with allergies were no more likely to say the condition is serious than people without allergies.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents recognise allergies are a serious disease that can be life-threatening and a further 40 percent believe that allergies are somewhat serious and can affect your quality of life. Only around 20 percent of respondents correctly identified an allergist as the type of doctor that should be seen to diagnose and treat allergic disease. This response rate was effectively the same regardless of whether the respondent personally suffered from allergies or not. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said that have allergies.

The survey was conducted online in late January 2011. The sample of 1,020 respondents is said to be demographically representative of adults 18 and older among the general population.