Abstract
Food allergy is a reaction mediated by immunological mechanisms that cause various symptoms in susceptible individuals while harmless in individuals who are not sensitive to the specific allergen. The reactions that take place are divided into three: IgE-mediated reactions, non-IgE-mediated reactions, and mixed-type reactions. While many types of food have the potential to cause allergen reactions, fewer foods are responsible for the most clinically severe reactions and for the majority of reported cases. Food allergy, which is increasingly common worldwide, is becoming an important public health problem. Although there are no clear epidemiological data, the prevalence of food allergy varies between 6-10% in preschool children and decreases to 2-5% in adulthood. Food allergy has long been recognized as a pediatric disease, as most cases tend to begin in childhood and disappear with growth. There is increasing evidence to support the role of early administration of potential food allergens to prevent food allergy. The management process of food allergy cases includes plans and innovative treatment strategies aimed at a personalized approach.
Highlights
As a method used in the treatment of food allergy, imunotheraphy aims to provide a continous unresponsiveness to food allergens or increase the threshold value required for the formation of a food induced allergic reaction
The increase observed in the incidence of the disease has brought food allergies to a level that has a significant impact on the quality of life of children and their families
While in the past the prevention of food allergy was largely focused on allergen avoidance, there is interventional evidence to suggest that early introduction of potential allergens may be beneficial in allergy prevention
Summary
Definition Food Allergy is defined as an abnormal immune response developed in the body after allergenic food (plant/animal) is consumed. Epidemiology Prevalence of food allergy is difficult to determine clearly because working study populations, geographic variation, method used in diagnosis, age range and other factors affect studies [3]. It is reported that while the prevalence of food allergy is higher among younger age groups, it decreases with age [4]. Verifiable and diagnosed food allergy prevalence for first 1 year is between 6-10%, while for adults it decreases to 2-5% [5]. To study food allergy prevalence among the pediatric age group, a study has been made in the Eastern Black Sea region with 2739 children ages range between 6-9. Food allergy prevalence verified by the children’s skin prick test is 33.1%, the prevalence of food allergy confirmed by nutrient challenge test is 0.8% [6]
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