I live in the UK and I'm relatively good friends with 3 people with potentially fatal peanut allergies, all in their mid 20s. I wouldn't be surprised if I've kn

I live in the UK and I'm relatively good friends with 3 people with potentially fatal peanut allergies, all in their mid 20s. I wouldn't be surprised if I've known more to a lesser degree who haven't said anything about it. Fortunately we have statistics! In the UK[1] it was 1 in 200 (0.5%) (no date given) and in 2002 was found to be 1 in 70 (1.4%). In the US the prevalence has also risen, from 0.4% in 1997 to 1.4% in 2010.[2] So certainly the UK doesn't have less peanut allergies. It would be interesting to know how it varies across Europe. It would be interesting to know to what extent genetics is a factor (although that would probably require genetic sequencing of everyone involved in a study, which would be expensive) [1]: http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/userfiles/files/statistics%20-%20March'05.pdf http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/userfiles/files/statistics%20-... [2]: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/as-peanut-allergies-rise-trying-to-determine-a-cause/ http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/as-peanut-allergies...