Allergic rhinitis (hay fever) is a common and debilitating disease affecting around 1 in 5 people in Australia and New Zealand. Despite its common name, it is not caused by hay and does not result in fever. Even though it was known that pollen rather than hay was the cause as far back as the early 1800's, the term hay fever stuck. Pollen from grasses, weeds or trees, released in spring, can trigger symptoms of allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and asthma. It is that time of year.

Symptoms are caused by the body's immune response to inhaled pollen, resulting in chronic inflammation of the eyes and nasal passages. People with allergic rhinitis often suffer from fatigue due to poor quality sleep. It can impair learning and performance in children, result in more frequent absenteeism in adults and reduced productivity, and therefore can cause considerable impairment to quality of life.

Around 8 in 10 people with asthma have allergic rhinitis, and this can make asthma more difficult to control.

To help people who suffer from pollen induced allergic rhinitis, a project known as the Australian Pollen Allergen Partnership was established to provide a standardised, readily accessible and reliable pollen count network to provide current local information to patients and doctors for the major Australian cities.

This project is supported by a grant from the Allergy and Immunology Foundation of Australasia. See www.allergyimmunology.org.au/projects.

The Daniel boys from Queensland are AIFA's youngest fundraisers, selling plants recently to raise money for allergy research.

Liam is 13 (he has environmental allergies only), Ewan is 11 (he's allergic to tree nuts, shellfish, squid and dust mites) and Hamish is 4 (he's allergic to peanuts, egg and dust mites).

Australian children and adults with allergy are often being poorly managed, with resources being wasted and their health and wellbeing at risk - but the launch of the new National Allergy Strategy has solutions. 

The National Allergy Strategy has been developed over the last 12 months involving scores of experts and over 50 stakeholder groups, including consumers, who have sifted through the evidence, consulted widely and produced coherent, achievable options for governments, health organisations, food industry and employers. Led by the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA), as the leading medical and patient organisations for allergy in Australia, the Strategy aims to address public health issues relating to the rapid and continuing rise of allergy in Australia and improve the health and quality of life of people with allergic diseases, their families and carers, and the community.

For a copy of the National Allergy Strategy go to www.nationalallergystrategy.org.au

Anna Burke, MP speaking in Parliament about the launch of the National Allergy Strategy.

More than 4 million Australians are affected by allergic disease. Last week saw the launch of the National Allergy Strategy, which if implemented across Australia has the potential to save lives and improve the quality of life for people living with allergies and anaphylaxis. 

AIFA grant recipient Dr Sandip Kamath is based at James Cook University in Townsville.

Watch Sandip’s presentation at the 2015 International Finals on FameLab YouTube channel.

An entertaining and informative program on severe allergies was produced by the SBS Insight team.

The show aired on 4 November 2014 and is availavle to view on demand at http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/345875011833

Severe allergies can be life threatening and, as shown in the program, could happen at any time in your life.