Peanuts food allergy

Anaphylaxis can occur in response to any allergen. Common causes include insect bites, food allergies (peanuts, brazil and hazelnuts are the most common) and drug allergies. Pollens and other inhaled allergens rarely cause anaphylaxis. 

The most frequent elicitators of food allergy in children are peanuts and tree nuts [ 17]. In France the prevalence of food allergy has been estimated to be 3.2% [18]. Furthermore, in this study, food was identified as the most common cause of anaphylaxis. Here the major identified food allergens besides peanuts and tree nuts were shellfish, wheat and lupine flour [18]. 

These data suggest that due to an increase of food allergy and in particular tree nut and peanut sensitization, the risk for anaphylaxis has been increased at the same time. 

Moneret-Vautrin, D.A., et al. (2002). Food allergy to peanuts in France. Evaluation of 142 observations, Clin. Exp. Allergy, 1998, 28, 1113-1119. 

At present, the problem of food allergy becomes essential also in Europe and Poland. About l%-2% of the adult population and 5%-8% infants/children have problems with the IgE-mediated form of food allergy (Jtjdrychowski, 2003). These specific reactions are directed toward several proteins present in peanuts, milk, soy, tree nuts, fish, or egg white. From the results presented it follows that food allergies in sensitive patients may be caused by the allergens contained by many food products at the same time. In Poland, allergic reactions are most often induced by the proteins of milk, eggs, fish, meat, poultry, tomatoes, and potatoes. 

Among 383 patients with food allergy, 37% revealed positive reaction to hazelnut (Etesamifar and Wiithrich 1998), and among pollen-allergic patients as much as 53% (Eriksson et al. 1982). In the areas where birch trees are endemic, hazelnut allergy is most often manifested as mild OAS, both in children and in adults (Cudowska and Kaczmarski 2004). However, the route of clinically relevant sensitization to hazelnut in children can be nonpollen related (Flinterman et al. 2006). Children can be sensitized to hazelnut at an early age. In many cases, reactions are very serious and frequently correlated with sensitivity to peanut or other tree nuts (Pumphrey et al. 1999). So far it has not been univocally settled which major allergens, and of which kind of nut, are responsible for the primary sensitization in children with objective reactions to hazelnuts. 

Maleki, S.J., Chung, S., Champagne, E.T., and Raufman, J.P. 2001. Allergic and biophysical properties of peanut proteins before and after roasting. Food Allergy Tolerance 2 211-221. 

Peanut Allergy.com Revolution Health Food Allergy Center... 

Food allergy, particularly to peanuts, is the most common cause of anaphylaxis outside hospital (Bock et ah, 2001), yet there are other common food causes such as shellfish, fish, milk, soy, wheat, and eggs (Asero et ah, 2007). These foods may not only cause fatal or near-fatal reactions, and they also tend to induce "persistent sensitivity" in most patients, in contrast to other foods such as milk, eggs, and soybeans, which are frequently associated with milder reactions and are usually "outgrown."... 

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