RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic evidence indicates that food allergies are increasing in the population. Information on a change in self-reported food allergy (srFA) in adults over time is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To report the prevalence of srFA and compare differences at three time points over a decade. METHODS: We analyzed srFA and reported physician-diagnosed food allergy in 4000 U.S. adults who participated in the 2010 U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Survey. Information on causative food(s), reaction severity characteristics, and various diagnostic factors was also analyzed. We compared 2010 Food Safety Survey data with 2006 and 2001 data, and highlighted relevant differences. RESULTS: SrFA prevalence increased significantly, to 13% in 2010 and 14.9% in 2006 compared with 9.1% in 2001 (p less than 0.001). Physician diagnosed food allergy was 6.5% in 2010, which was not significantly different compared with 7.6% in 2006 and 5.3% in 2001. SrFA increased in both men and women, non-Hispanic white and black adults, 50-59 year olds, and in adults with a high school or lower education. In 2010, milk, shellfish, and fruits were the most commonly reported food allergens, similar to 2001. Also, in 2010, 15% of reactions reportedly required a hospital visit and 8.4% were treated with epinephrine. Minor differences in reaction severity characteristics were noted among the surveys. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of survey results indicates that the prevalence of srFA increased among U.S. adults from 2001 to 2010 and that adults are increasingly self-reporting FAs without obtaining medical diagnosis. Improved education about food allergies is needed for this risk group.
RESUMO
This report describes the results of a phase 1 study evaluating the safety, infectivity, and immunogenicity of a new live oral Salmonella typhi temperature-sensitive (ts) 51-1 typhoid fever vaccine in the human. Three normal male subjects aged 23-32 years received three oral doses of S. typhi ts 51-1, each dose containing 10(9) organisms. Prior to and following immunization each subject was carefully monitored by clinical and laboratory parameters over a 2 week period during which serial specimens of blood and stool were analysed for the presence of the organism. Blood specimens were also obtained for the determination of serum antibody and cell-mediated immune responses and stool filtrates were analysed for the development of coproantibody. The results of these studies indicate that: (1) the vaccine is well tolerated with no clinical or laboratory evidence of adverse reactions; (2) ts 51-1 was detected in only one stool specimen from one volunteer; the organism recovered displayed characteristics of the ts 51-1 vaccine strain; and (3) although no significant humoral or cell-mediated lymphocytotoxic immune responses were detected in the blood, coproantibody was detected in stool specimens from all of the three immunized subjects and IgA-armed ADCC activity was detected in two of three subjects. These studies indicate that S. typhi ts 51-1 may be a suitable strain for the development of an improved oral typhoid fever vaccine. Studies are in progress to determine optimal methods of vaccine delivery preparatory to large phase 2 studies of efficacy.
