Expert says Ireland experiencing a hidden allergy health crisis

One of the country’s leading allergy experts has called for a complete overhaul of the State’s response to Ireland’s hidden allergy health crisis.

Professor Jonathan Hourihane, a Professor of Paediatrics in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and a consultant paediatrician in the Children’s Hospital at Temple St, said with allergy rates rising — about 24% of Irish people suffer from some form of allergy: 40,000 alone are allergic to nuts — the State's existing policy response is “wrapped up in red-tape” and must be streamlined.

And with 250 children on waiting lists in Cork alone to see an allergy specialist, some waiting up to four years for an appointment, he said investment in the front-line medical response to a condition which in some cases can be fatal must be ramped up.

“These are community diseases. Allergies are more common than diabetes, epilepsy, or Parkinsons but they can be looked after by family doctors and local clinics,” he said.

“We need a massively disruptive plan to put allergy treatment in first and second level medical facilities in this country. We’d like to see more care delivered in regional hospitals and we need at least two or three more specialists.

If you manage allergies properly, presentations at emergency departments go down, the exposure to medicines is reduced, and children with allergies perform better in State exams.

Prof Hourihane is one of just two paediatric consultants in Ireland specialising in allergies. Finland, which has a similar population size to Ireland, has 100 full-time paediatric allergy consultants.

While the rates of asthma and eczema have stabilized, food allergies are on the rise, particularly in babies and children, with the most common linked to nuts, milk, egg and fish. Rates of rhinitis or hay-fever are also on the increase.

The increase is attributed to a combination of factors, including improved hygiene which reduces exposure to viruses and leads to “immunological idleness”; delayed weaning of babies onto solid foods which can lead to narrower diversity of gut microbiome; and reduced exposure to Vitamin D, particularly in northern latitudes.

Prof Hourihane said while there is a good legislative framework around the use in the community of adrenalin pens used to treat anaphylaxis, the implementation on the ground is over-complicated and poor and it must be overhauled.

Prof Hourihane and some patients who attend his allergy clinic will feature in a documentary on TG4 tomorrow night.

They will discuss how allergies affect their lives and how daily tasks such as food shopping, cooking or using public transport are mammoth undertakings.

The show, produced by Medb Johnstone and directed by Craig Speer, will be screened at 9.30pm as part of TG4’s Tabú documentary season.