# Why are nut allergies so severe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 23, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-nut-allergies-so-severe/170548 "2003-04-23T06:52:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Harrison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5ac83/32.png) [@John\_Harrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Harrison)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-nut-allergies-so-severe/170548/21 "2003-04-24T13:21:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LanceUSMC \* > \*\*Okay, I have to ask…how serious is this? NOT as an individual person who has the allergy, but how many people have this allergy? Kids are allergic to a lot of things. How serious is this compared to other allergies? > I remember on two different occasions something about this being a one in a million type allergy, or maybe 1 in a 100,000. > > Once again, I am not saying it is not serious for the one who has this allergy. But is a lot of it media hype? \*\* The last numbers I saw were somewhere between 1 and 1.5% of the US population, and peanut allergies are one of the most deadly, along with shellfish and venom. My allergist sees a fairly large number of people that are allergic to all three (and more) each day, and that doesn’t include all the other practices in the area. It’s more common than you think. ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-nut-allergies-so-severe/170548/22 "2003-04-24T13:51:53Z")
There is some good news for peanut allergy sufferers coming [http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-03-10-peanut-allergy\_x.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-03-10-peanut-allergy_x.htm) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-nut-allergies-so-severe/170548.md?page=1)