Abstract
We retrospectively studied 93 children with 103 episodes of food allergy, who visited in our emergency room between 1995 and 1999. The age and sex of patients and the causative agents, the onset of reactions, signs and symptoms, and the seasonal factors of episodes were determined based on patient's records.
The incidence of food allergy increased gradually over the period and was lower in winter. Patients ranged in age from 0 through 18 years (mean age 3.7 years). Among the 103 food allergy cases, about 80% of patients were infants. The onset of about 50% of reactions occurred within 30 to 60 minutes and about 10% occurred after 60 minutes. In regard to symptoms, 95.1% of the cases had urticarial rashes, 35.9% had wheezing and/or cough and 1.9% had cardiovascular symptoms. Egg was the most common allergen in our subjects including anaphylaxis. Other food allergens of high frequency were wheat, salmon roe and buckwheat. An epinephrine was used in only 6 cases. Early treatment with epinephrine can be effective in delaying the progression of anaphylactic reaction.
