Allergy-caused ER Visits Could Be On The Rise
Emergency room visits by children for severe food-allergy reactions may be on the rise, if the experience of one major US medical center is a sign.
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston found that the number of allergic reactions in the ER caused from food more than doubled in the past six years — from 164 cases in 2001, to 391 in 2006.
The increase in the number of more severe, and sometimes deadly, reactions known as anaphylaxis, had even sharper increases. Signs of anaphylaxis include skin reactions like hives and pale skin, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, dizziness or fainting, trouble breathing and a sudden drop in blood pressure which can lead to anaphylactic shock.
The study analyzed data and found that there were 78 cases of food-induced anaphylaxis in 2001. That number nearly tripled to 207 in 2006. Those figures corresponded to a rate of 15 anaphylaxis cases for every 10,000 ER visits in 2001, and 38 anaphylaxis cases for every 10,000 ER visits in 2006.
The reasons for the increases cannot be taken from the data analyzed. But the findings are in line with studies pointing to a general increase in food allergies among US children in recent years, first author Dr. Susan A. Rudders told Reuters Health in an email.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three million school-aged children in the United States had a food allergy in 2007, which was an 18 percent increase from 1997.
The most common foods that trigger allergic reactions are peanuts, tree nuts, cow’s milk, and eggs.
It is unclear why there is a sharp increase in the diagnoses of food allergies, said Rudders. One theory, she noted, is that changes in diet may be a factor. Another possible theory is the “hygiene hypothesis,” which holds that today’s clean living may, in some people, make the immune system more prone to attacking normally benign substances, like food proteins and pollen.
It is also not clear whether the rise in ER visits for serious food reactions seen in the study points to a wider trend. Rudders said that this appears to be the first study looking specifically at ER visits for serious food reactions. She added that further research is needed.
A limitation in the current study is that it was a review of medical records, and the researchers were not able to test the children to confirm that they had a food allergy. Food-related allergies were defined as symptoms suggestive of an immune-system reaction after a child had reportedly been exposed to a food allergen.
Anaphylaxis was defined as a reaction involving at least two organ systems in the body, or a sudden drop in blood pressure alone.
The researchers report their study findings in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
—
On the Net: