Subject(s)
Arachis , Desensitization, Immunologic , Milk Hypersensitivity , Peanut Hypersensitivity , Sesamum , Humans , Animals , Sesamum/immunology , Arachis/immunology , Desensitization, Immunologic/methods , Peanut Hypersensitivity/therapy , Peanut Hypersensitivity/immunology , Milk Hypersensitivity/immunology , Milk Hypersensitivity/therapy , Female , Administration, Oral , Child , Milk/immunology , Male , Allergens/immunology , Allergens/administration & dosage , Child, Preschool , Cattle , AdultABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Food allergies (FAs) are on the rise worldwide. A previous cross-sectional study from 2002 in Israel estimated the prevalence of IgE-mediated FA among young children at 0.85%. Although sesame was found to be a common allergen, peanuts were found to be a rare allergen. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and distributions of IgE-mediated FAs among young children in Israel compared with previous data. METHODS: A total of 1932 young children (56% males, 44% females) with a mean age of 22.4 months (range, 18-30 months) were sequentially recruited from 15 government family health care centers in north Israel. Parents completed a questionnaire with 2 screening questions for suspected FA. Subjects with suspected FA underwent further evaluation including telephone interview, skin prick tests, and oral food challenge as needed. RESULTS: After analyzing the questionnaires, 146 subjects were suspected to have FA. Seventy-nine subjects were excluded by telephone interview and 13 were excluded on the basis of negative oral food challenge. We identified 54 of 1932 (2.8%) young children with 75 IgE-mediated FAs. Thirty-nine of 54 (72.2%) had allergy to 1 food and 9 (16.6%) to 2 foods. The most common food allergens were cow's milk (1%), eggs (0.88%), sesame (0.93%), tree nuts (0.57%), peanuts (0.2%), and fish (0.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of IgE-mediated FA among young children in Israel has increased dramatically from 0.85% to 2.8%. The relative prevalence of the most common food allergens is similar to that identified in 2002, with a high prevalence of sesame FA and low prevalence of peanut FA.
