2001 Volume 13 Issue 2 Pages 179-188
Some patients with birch pollen allergy (birch pollinosis) report oral allergic symptoms after eating fresh fruits and other vegetables. Recently, the number of those patients is gradually increasing in Hokkaido Prefecture, as they are Europe. The study was carried out on 276 patients (54 males and 222 females) with birch pollinosis, who came to my clinic during the scattering season of birch pollen in 2000, to evaluate the clinical characteristics of oral allergy syndrome (OAS) in birch pollinosis patients . The diagnosis of birch pollinosis was confirmed by seasonal clinical symptoms and the presence of birch specific anti-IgE antibody by RAST (a score equal to or greater than 2). OAS was cheked out by the interview and the original simple questionnaire to 40 kinds of fruits and vegetables . Some were examined by the presence of fruit specific anti-IgE antibody by RAST.
The results were as follows: (1) The incidence of OAS in birch pollinosis was 48.9%, totaling 135 patients (22 males and 113 females) in all patients.(2) The food allergens in OAS were apples, cherries, peaches, pears, melons, plums, and others, in order of frequency.(3) Most patients (84%) were sensitized by multiple allergens.(4) The high frequent symptoms were itching and swelling in the distributed region of trigeminal nerve.(5) The symptoms of OAS after consumption allergens occurred within 15 minutes in most patients (88.2%).
Results indicate that it is necessary to ask about in detail, oral allergic symptoms, including the onset time and food allergens, of all patients in birch pollinosis as the high-incidence of OAS.
