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Basophil Activation Test for Allergy Diagnosis
Published on: May 31, 2021
Tree nut allergy, egg allergy, and asthma in children
Jonathan M Gaffin1, William J Sheehan, Jaclyn Morrill
1Children's Hospital Boston, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Background:
Children with food allergies often have concurrent asthma.
Objective:
The authors aimed to determine the prevalence of asthma in children with food allergies and the association of specific food allergies with asthma.
Methods:
Parental questionnaire data regarding food allergy, corroborated by allergic sensitization were completed for a cohort of 799 children with food allergies. Multivariate regression analysis tested the association between food allergy and reported asthma.
Results:
In this cohort, the prevalence of asthma was 45.6%. After adjusting for each food allergy, environmental allergies, and family history of asthma, children with egg allergy (odds ratio [OR] = 2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3-3.2; P < .01) or tree nut allergy (OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.1-3.6; P = .02) had significantly greater odds of report of asthma.
Conclusion:
There is a high prevalence of asthma in the food-allergic pediatric population. Egg and tree nut allergy are significantly associated with asthma, independent of other risk factors.
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