Who gets hay fever?
In children and adolescents, hay fever is more common in boys than in girls, but this tends to even out as adulthood is reached. The average age of hay fever onset is as young as 8-11 years, with approximately 80 per cent of sufferers developing the condition by 20 years of age.
A person of any race can develop hay fever. However, it is more common among certain populations and cultures. This appears to be due to the following:
• Genetic factors – Because hay fever tends to run in families, there would once have been clusters of sufferers in particular regions. As people gained access to wider areas, these clusters would gradually have spread.
• Geographical factors – The pollens that give rise to hay fever are not as prevalent in some parts of the world as in others, therefore there are fewer sufferers in those parts. An obvious example is Greenland, where there are no trees and few grasses. However, in some parts of Switzerland hay fever is rife, with many people having to put up with symptoms for almost ten months of the year1 – grass pollen being the chief culprit. In other parts of Switzerland, the length of the hay fever season is no more than two to three months.
• Environmental factors – Experts believe that an over-sterile home (and/or workplace), exposure to pollutants such as from smoking, car exhaust fumes and industry, and the use of antibiotics in childhood can make a susceptible person more prone to developing hay fever.
Given the right conditions, virtually anyone can develop hay fever. However, individuals in the following groups are more likely than others to develop it:
• people with an inherited tendency;
• firstborn children;
• boys;
• children who have eczema and/or asthma;
• children who have food allergies;
• people with nasal polyps – these are small non-cancerous (benign) growths in the lining of the nose;
• a person (either child or adult) who has other allergies – perhaps to pet fur and dung from the house dust mite;
• a pregnant woman, due to the changes her body is undergoing.
Although the peak age of onset is during adolescence and the twenties, it’s not unusual for an elderly person to develop hay fever.