An epidemiological study of food allergy in a regional hospital in Ireland

Introduction Food allergy is rapidly becoming a significant burden on the paediatric population of developed countries.[1,2] Type 1 allergy causes much anxiety and leads to some of the very acute and distressing presentations to paediatric A&E. Misconception and fears regarding the use of adrenaline preparations is one of the causative factors, although there is a huge evidence base that shows the safety and effectiveness of these preparations in managing the true and suspected cases of type 1 allergy.[3] In the Paediatric unit in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda there is an allergy clinic which runs as an out-patient service. Our aim was to establish a database of children who presented to these clinics and record the allergens (both food and aeroallergens) to which they had a positive reaction. We included those that had a positive skin prick test or radioallergosorbent test (RAST), or both. It is only by creating such a database that we can determine both the scale of the problem in our area and the adequacy of services provided. Using this information we could proceed further to audit our services and make any improvements in the future. The aim of the allergy register was to: • Obtain information about 1) the number of children presenting to our allergy clinic and 2) the prevalence of food allergy within this group and the type of allergens (nut, fish, milk, egg). • Determine the number of children with associated atopic conditions (asthma, eczema, hayfever). • Record the nature of reaction to the various allergens. • Record the patients who had been given adrenaline pens so that timely replacements can be provided in the future. Methods Information was collected retrospectively from the clinic letters of the allergy clinic from January 2011 to December 2013. Information collected included personal biodata of the patients (age, sex etc), their confirmed allergies (either through skin prick testing or RAST), the number of those prescribed adrenaline injection or anti-histamine tablets and associated atopic conditions (eczema, asthma, hayfever).