Isr Med Assoc J
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Food allergy is an increasingly prevalent disease in western countries, but an effective form of therapy has not yet been found. A specific active treatment for immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated food allergy is currently under study in human clinical trials. Allergen-specific approaches include oral, sublingual and epicutaneous immunotherapy. ⋯ The occurrence of adverse events or reactions during OIT is quite frequent and has been reported in all published studies. Therefore, before this treatment can be used in clinical practice additional studies are needed. Currently, immunotherapy for cow's milk or egg allergies is a novel approach that expands the possibility of an active treatment to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
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In the last decade the use of different types of oral immunotherapy for food-allergic patients has increased with generally satisfactory outcomes. Cow's milk and hen's egg, a common element in the daily diet, have received the main interest. Most of these immunotherapy regimens are performed in the hospital, causing inconvenience for both children and their parents. ⋯ This home-based oral immunotherapy protocol proved to effectively induce tolerance to hen's egg in most of the egg-allergic children and its safety profile was acceptable.
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Fish is a common cause of food allergy. The reactions usually occur after its ingestion. In most immunoglobulin E-mediated reactions, the allergens are gastroresistant and heat-stable proteins of low molecularweight (parvalbumin). ⋯ In these cases, the fish allergens are gastrosensitive and thermolabile, as demonstrated by the decrease in the diameter of the wheal in the skin-prick test using cooked fish. To the best of our knowledge isolated fish contact urticaria in children has not been previously reported. We analyze the features of three pediatric cases of contact urticaria from cod (one of them was sensitized to parvalbumin), with tolerance after ingestion of this fish on oral food challenge.