A Growing Epidemic Allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic illness. In 2018, 7.7 percent of adults and 7.2 percent of children were diagnosed with hay fever. The most common serious allergic life-threatening reactions are medicines, food, and insect stings. The annual cost of allergies exceeds $18 billion. In 2018, 9.2 million children had skin allergies. Severe drug reaction...