Photo: Niranjan Patil (CC BY 2.0)
Studies have shown allergies can progress from one form to another in what has been dubbed the 'atopic march' something about a quarter of children in the Western world are affected by. Children with a skin allergy or eczema for instance are more likely to go on to have asthma and hay fever.
Anecdotally, lots of people are saying this summer has been atrocious for hay fever. However some people, including doctors, disagree. For them every summer is bad.
Lynn Freeman speaks to hay fever sufferer Lee McCauley, Professor Graham Le Gros the Director of the Malaghan Institute for Medical Research, CEO of Allergy New Zealand Mark Dixon, and Dr James Chisnall who is a General Practitioner specialising in allergies.
