Euro-allergy epidemic warning
Thursday March 22nd, 2012
Allergy specialists warned yesterday of a growing "epidemic" in Europe.
Senior
professionals set out their case as they lobbied European legislators
to get the problem recognised in EU planning.
According to the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, by 2040 as many as 40 per cent of the population will suffer from some kind of allergy problem.
Already asthma costs the continent 25 billion Euros annually, it says.
The academy is alarmed that EU health plans do not include allergies.
It says the prevalence of airborne allergy and asthma has quadrupled in the last 30 years. One in three children is now affected, it says.
Professor Jeroen Buters, from Technishe Universität München, said: "The reasons for this steady increase are unclear.
“Epidemiological evidence points to a westernised lifestyle as the main driver. That is a broad description of factors like increased hygiene and lesser infectious diseases, smaller families, being less outdoors, changed foods, increased air pollution etc."
Tags: Allergies & Asthma | Europe
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