The number of adults who think they have a food allergy is almost double the figure who actually have one, research has revealed.
While the study was conducted in the US, experts say a similar situation is also seen in other countries, including the UK. The researchers found that many people with an allergy do not have a prescription for potentially life-saving medication, while others might be avoiding foods unnecessarily.
The study suggests almost 11% of adults in the US have a food allergy, equating to more than 26 million people. About 12 million of these are estimated to have developed the allergy as an adult, highlighting that allergies do not only begin in childhood.
Allergy Therapeutics (LON:AGY) is an international commercial biotechnology group focused on the treatment and diagnosis of allergic disorders, including immunotherapy vaccines that have the potential to cure disease. The Group sells proprietary and third-party products from its subsidiaries in nine major European countries and via distribution agreements in an additional fourteen countries. Its broad pipeline of products in clinical development include vaccines for grass, tree and house dust mite, and peanut allergy vaccine in pre-clinical development. Adjuvant systems to boost performance of vaccines outside allergy are also in development.