Frequency of positive allergy tests in children, adults and seniors

Summary Background Among allergists, it is often assumed that allergies primarily affect children and young adults and are “lost” during life. Methods To challenge this assumption, we analysed skin prick tests and patch tests from a large patient cohort of 5857 consecutive patients seen by the same physician in 2018 in a large allergy outpatient clinic in Vienna. Results We observed a clustering of patients suffering from inhalant allergy between the ages of 5 and 59 years (44.6% = 2155/4828), although inhalant allergies were still frequent beyond the age of 60 years with 20.2% (167/826). Food allergies were most relevant in infants under 5 years of age, at 16.3% (33/203). The proportion of contact allergies was low in childhood, but steadily increased over the age and affected more often women (women: 5.28% = 187/3544, men: 1.99% = 46/2313). Conclusion Inhalant allergies play a relevant role until old age. Food allergies are mainly a disease of infancy, and contact allergies predominantly affect adult women.