Allergy Today: Spring/Summer 2019

Allergy News • Allergic Rhinitis • The Walk to School • Perioperative Anaphylaxis • Drug Allergy • Allergic Eye Disease • Allergy Testing

This latest edition of Allergy Today coincides with our 2019 Spring Allergy Awareness Week. Our focus this Week is outdoor air quality – a topic which is on the government agenda, with the Draft Clean Air Quality consultation published last year. With air quality the fourth greatest threat to public health after cancer, heart disease and obesity this is a vital issue for human health.

Poor air quality can have a significant impact on allergic conditions and during this Allergy Awareness Week we will be providing information on our website and through on and offline media on how people living with allergic disease can help reduce their exposure to air pollutants and allergens. We have added a new free Factsheet to our website called Outdoor Air Quality – why it matters. This is one more in our series of downloadable Factsheets on a wide range of allergic conditions and practical advice.

With air quality a campaign focus for us this year, we will continue our work with experts and influencers to support initiatives to improve the quality of the air we breathe, on behalf of our allergic community. Later this year we will move the focus onto the impact of poor indoor air quality on people with allergy.

In this Allergy Today we cover a broad range of topics, including allergic eye disease which can be a painful and serious condition. There are also topical features on pollen, pollution and paediatric health and on allergic rhinitis. The results of a national audit by the Royal College of Anaesthetists on perioperative anaphylaxis are explored, with the outcomes and the lessons learnt from these life threatening reactions, and the presentation of drug allergy in primary care is also featured. All Allergy Today articles are written by experts in their fields, providing information and guidance which we hope will be useful in your day to day practice.