Abstract
BackgroundFood allergy is a public health problem that has increased in the last decade. Despite the increasing rates in children, quality data on the burden of these diseases is lacking particularly in developing countries. Honduras has no studies in pediatric patients.ObjectivesThe objective of this research was to identify the most common sensitization patterns to food through epicutaneous skin testing and food allergy rates in children and their correlation with common allergic diseases in a group of patients from Hospital of Pediatrics Maria.MethodsCross-sectional retrospective, descriptive study in which records and database of all allergic patients in the immunology outpatient clinic from Hospital of Pediatrics Maria were reviewed between the periods of January 2015 through June 2016.ResultsA total of 365 children were analyzed, the age of participants were in the range from 1 to 18 years, with an average of 9.8 years. Sensitization to food allergens were found in 23, and 58.3% were poly-sensitized. The most common food allergens that patients were sensitized to: milk 9.0%, eggs 6.9%, peanut 4.9% and pork meat 4.4%. Food allergy was confirmed via oral food challenged in 9.3% of the patients. The most frequent food allergies found were: cow’s milk allergy 6%, hen’s egg allergy 5.2% and wheat allergy 1.9%.ConclusionsMilk and egg were the most common a food allergens found in the population studied. Most of the patients were found to be poly-sensitized. The frequent food allergies confirmed via oral food challenge were cow’s milk allergy, hen’s egg allergy and wheat allergy.
Highlights
Food allergy is a public health problem that has increased in the last decade
Food allergy was confirmed via oral food challenged in 9.3% of the patients
The frequent food allergies confirmed via oral food challenge were cow’s milk allergy, hen’s egg allergy and wheat allergy
Summary
Despite the increasing rates in children, quality data on the burden of these diseases is lacking in developing countries. Sensitization, or the presence of allergic antibody, is a pre-requisite for development of an allergic response to an allergen. Patterns of sensitization to environmental and food allergens have previously been studied in children in an effort to better understand allergy development [1, 2]. A reaction to a food allergen can cause a wide range of clinical responses, ranging from urticaria to anaphylaxis, the most severe form of allergic reaction [3]. Food allergy rates vary by age, local diet, and many other factors [7], eight types of food account for over 90% of allergic reactions in affected individuals: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat [8]. Oral food challenges (OFC) may be required [9]
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