ASTHMA AT A GLANCE

  • 23 million adults (10.7%) in the U.S. have been diagnosed with asthma at some point in their life. 1
  • 9 million children under 18 (12.7%) have been diagnosed with asthma. 1
  • More than 70 percent of people with asthma also have allergies. 2
  • 10 million Americans suffer specifically from allergic asthma. 3
  • There were 1.8 million asthma-related visits to hospital emergency departments in 2004, including 754,000 for children under 18. 4
  • There were 4,055 deaths from asthma in 2003. 5
  • Asthma-related healthcare costs have been estimated at $14 billion annually. 6
  • Asthma accounted for 12.8 million missed school days and 10.1 million work days in 2003. 7

1 National Health Interview Survey, 2005, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2 Understanding Allergy and Asthma, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health

3 Asthma and its Environmental Triggers, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, July 1997

4 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2004, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

5 Deaths: Final Data for 2003, National Vital Statistics Reports, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

6 Morbidity & Mortality: 2002 Chart Book on Cardiovascular, Lung, and Blood Diseases, National Health, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, May 2002

7 National Health Interview Survey, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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