Surge in allergic diseases in India: WAO

Growing industrialisation and fast changing biodiversity coupled with sedentary lifestyles are cause a surge in allergic diseases, especially between children in the country, the World Allergy Organisation (WAO) has warned.

Currently, about 20 to 30 per cent of people in India are having one or additional allergic diseases and their prevalence is rising dramatically, the WAO said, the diseases integrated asthma, rhinitis, anaphylaxis, food and drug allergy, insect allergy, eczema and urticaria (hives) and angioedema, it said.

The prevalence of asthma and rhinitis two major form of allergies was one and 10 percent likewise in 1964 in the country but new data shows that about 14 per cent people now have asthma, while over 20 per cent are pain from allergic rhinitis (AR) which results from an IgE-mediated inflammation of the nasal mucosa.