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Huge rise in allergy sufferers but too few specialists - Times Online

The number of patients suffering from serious allergic conditions has risen by more than a quarter in four years, but there is a serious shortage of specialists to treat them, The Times has learnt.

Experts call upon the Government today to take immediate steps to combat the “massive epidemic” of severe allergic conditions, which can be fatal in the worst cases.

A report submitted to the Department of Health of data from GPs’ surgeries shows that by 2005 an estimated 12.2 million people in England had been diagnosed with an allergy-related illness such as asthma, eczema, allergic rhinitis, peanut allergy or anaphylaxis, the most severe form of allergic reaction.

All these allergies were more commonly recorded among patients from affluent areas compared with those from deprived areas, suggesting that the environment in which babies are brought up could have dire consequences for their future health. Reports from the Royal College of Physicians and the Department of Health have previously given warning that there are not enough specially trained doctors: there are only six specialist allergy centres in Britain.

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