Allergy Prevalence Does Not Vary Across Regions

It doesn’t matter where you live in the United States, you will likely still suffer from allergies. A new study finds that allergy prevalence is the same across different regions of the United States for people over the age of 6.

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Scientists looked at over the blood serum data results of 10,000 Americans in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006.

Participants aged 1 years or older were tested for serum specific IgEs (slgEs) to inhalant and food allergens. Of the participants aged 6 years or older, 44.6% had detectable slgEs, whereas 36.2% of children aged 1 to 5 were sensitized to 1 or more allergens.

Analysis showed that the overall prevalence of allergic sensitization does not vary across regions. One exception: Children aged 1-5 from the southern United States had a higher prevalence of allergies (attributed to dust mites and cockroaches) than other children across the United States. As children get older, the difference in overall prevalence of allergies disappeared.

Note: Allergen-specific sensitization differs based on sociodemographic and regional factors. Sensitization to indoor allergens was more prevalent in the South, while sensitization to outdoor allergens was more common in the West. Food allergies among those 5 years or older was highest in the South.

“Before this study, if you would have asked 10 allergy specialists if allergy prevalence varied depending on where people live, all 10 of them would have said yes, because allergen exposures tend to be more common in certain regions of the US,” said Darryl Zeldin, MD, scientific director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of NIH. “This study suggests that people prone to developing allergies are going to develop an allergy to whatever is in their environment. It’s what people become allergic to that differs.”

References:

Salo P, Arbes S, Jaramillo R, et al. Prevalence of allergic sensitization in the United States: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2014 Feb 11 [epub ahead of print].

Press release. Prevalence of allergies the same, regardless of where you live. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. 2014 Mar 4. Available at: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsroom/releases/2014/march4/index.cfm. Accessed March 7, 2014.