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| health information | health news

Effects of hay fever not to be sniffed at

22 June 2007

Key facts

Hay fever is an allergic reaction to pollen or fungal spores. Symptoms include sneezing, a runny nose, itchy eyes and coughing. Grass pollen is the most common cause, but pollen from trees and weeds can also contribute to hay fever.
According to the charity Allergy UK, hay fever affects 15 to 20 percent of people in Britain and a quarter of people aged 11 to 25 get hay fever symptoms.
Students take their GCSE exams between early May and the end of June. The mock (practice) GCSEs are taken the winter before (November and December). Students are expected to do as well or better in their GCSEs due to the extra time they have to prepare after their mock exams.
Students take between 5 and 15 GCSEs. All students take the core subjects, English, maths and science.

Hay fever symptoms could affect children's performance in school, according to a new study.

A team of researchers from the charity Education for Health studied the effects of hay fever on GCSE performance in 1,834 students from 13 secondary schools in the West Midlands. The researchers compared final results to those achieved in mock exams and found students who dropped a grade in their GCSEs were 40 percent more likely to have had hay fever symptoms during the exam period than those who scored the same or higher than in their mocks.

The researchers believe sedating antihistamines could also be associated with the lower than expected exam performance. The results indicated that students who dropped a grade were 70 percent more likely to have taken sedating antihistamines.

Lead researcher, Dr Samantha Walker, advised prospective students with allergies to grass pollen to take non-sedating antihistamines in early May to help control symptoms.

Professor Jean Emberlin, Director of the National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit at the University of Worcester believes this study has highlighted an important issue and commented: "It's very important that parents recognise hay fever symptoms in their children and take them seriously.

This is the first study to look at a possible association between hay fever symptoms and GCSE exam performance, and the results have been published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

A month before their exams, each participant filled in a questionnaire on their health and lifestyle, including whether they suffered from hay fever. On the day of their GCSE exams they completed a short survey about their hay fever symptoms. The students' results in their final GCSE exams in English, maths and science were compared to those of their mock exams, which were taken the winter before.