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Food reactions are common and under-treated in food allergic children

Published online: July 21, 2020

Few studies have investigated the frequency and characteristics of community-based adverse food reactions and anaphylaxis among children with food allergy. Understanding risk factors for reactions, as well as how reactions are treated by parents, is critical for informing management strategies to improve prevention and treatment of reactions in patients with food allergy.

Wang and colleagues used data from the population-based HealthNuts study to investigate adverse food reactions among 260 food allergic 6-year-old children. In work recently published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, the authors report the frequency, characteristics and risk factors for community-based adverse food reactions and anaphylaxis.

Almost half (45%) of all food allergic 6-year-old children had one or more adverse food reactions in the past 12 months. One in ten children had a parent-reported reaction involving symptoms consistent with anaphylaxis, although only half of these were recognized by parents as anaphylaxis. Adrenaline auto-injectors were used in only 25% of recognized anaphylaxis episodes, highlighting the need for improved education on the recognition and management of adverse food reactions and anaphylaxis for parents of young children with food allergy.

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice is an official journal of the AAAAI, focusing on practical information for the practicing clinician.

Full Article