• Carlos Eduardo Beltrán-Cárdenas, Diana María Granda-Restrepo, Alejandro Franco-Aguilar, Veronica Lopez-Teros, Aldo Alejandro Arvizu-Flores, Feliznando Isidro Cárdenas-Torres, Noé Ontiveros, Francisco Cabrera-Chávez, and Jesús Gilberto Arámburo-Gálvez.
• Postgraduate Program in Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences, University of Sinaloa, Culiacan, Sinaloa 80019, Mexico.
• Medicina (Kaunas). 2021 Feb 5; 57 (2).

AbstractBackground and objectives: The epidemiology of food allergy (FA) and food-dependent anaphylaxis remains unknown in Colombia. Our aim was to estimate by parent-report the prevalence of FA and food-dependent anaphylaxis in a Colombian population of schoolchildren. Materials and methods: A printed questionnaire was sent to parents of schoolchildren aged 5-12 years old from Medellín, Colombia in order to collect FA-related data. Results: Nine hundred and sixty-nine (969) parents returned the questionnaire with valid responses (response rate, 52.5%). The estimated prevalence rates (95% CI) were: adverse food reactions 12.79% (10.76-15.07), "perceived FA, ever" 10.93% (9.08-13.08), "physician-diagnosed FA, ever" 4.33% (3.14-5.81), "immediate-type FA, ever" 6.81% (5.30-8.58), "immediate-type FA, current" 3.30% (2.26-4.63), and food-dependent anaphylaxis 1.85% (1.10-2.92). The most frequently reported food allergens were milk (1.44%), fruits (0.41%), meat (0.41%), and peanut (0.3%). Sixty-one percent of "food-dependent anaphylaxis" cases sought medical attention, but only eleven percent of the cases reported the prescription of an epinephrine autoinjector. Conclusions: FA and food-dependent anaphylaxis are not uncommon among schoolchildren from Colombia. The prescription of epinephrine autoinjectors should be encouraged among health personnel for the optimal management of suspected cases of food-dependent anaphylaxis.

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