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"We have known anecdotally that children are affected by allergy symptomssimilarly to adults, but Pediatric Allergies in America offers the first dataquantifying the scope of how allergies interrupt a child's productivity, sleepcycle, and daily functioning," said Jay M. Portnoy, MD, President of theAmerican College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
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Quality of Life Findings
More than three quarters of parents (76 percent) reported Spring to be theworst time of year for their children's nasal allergies. Allergy symptomscause children to feel tired, miserable and irritable. Many children withallergies reported experiencing symptoms every day this time of year. Keyfindings included:
Treatment Experience Findings
The survey found that there is room for improvement in the management ofallergic rhinitis and that new therapies could help fill some of the currenttreatment needs. Healthcare professionals overestimate their patients'satisfaction with allergy medicines.
"Similar to what we have learned about adults, many children with nasalallergies are not satisfied with current treatments. This dissatisfaction isone reason why nasal allergy sufferers sometimes discontinue or switchmedications," said Michael Blaiss, MD, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics andMedicine at the University of Tennessee. "We have information that tells ushow, in fact, children suffer with this condition, how it truly affects theirquality of life and that there is a need out there for better treatments tocontrol allergies in the pediatric population."
Allergic Rhinitis
Allergic rhinitis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the nasal mucosacausing sneezing, itching, nasal congestion and discharge. Some patients withallergic rhinitis have systemic symptoms, including malaise, irritability,fatigue, difficulty concentrating and decreased appetite.
Allergic rhinitis is the most common allergic disease in the U.S.affecting about 40 million people, specifically 10 percent to 30 percent ofadults and up to 40 percent of children. It is associated with direct costs ofabout $4.5 billion annually and indirect costs that reflect approximately fourmillion days of lost time and productivity at work and school.
Seasonal allergic rhinitis is caused by substances typically outdoors(i.e., pollen) that set off allergies and is sometimes referred to as "hayfever." Symptoms may vary in occurrence and intensity during the day or fromseason to season. Symptoms are often worse in the morning even when theexposure occurred on the previous day.
Perennial allergic rhinitis is a chronic condition caused by triggers suchas pet dander and dust. Symptoms of perennial allergic rhinitis are verysimilar to those of seasonal allergic rhinitis, yet perennial is persistentand chronic.
About the Survey
A national probability sample of 500 adults, aged 18 and older, who had atleast one child who had been diagnosed with allergic rhinitis, nasal allergiesor hay fever, and who had nasal allergy symptoms or had taken prescriptionmedicine for allergies in the past 12 months, were interview
