Life-threatening food allergies risking more children’s lives

LIFE-threatening reactions from food allergies are on the rise in Australia, with children under four at the greatest risk of anaphylaxis.

Teenage food allergies on the rise

LIFE-threatening reactions from food allergies are on the rise in Australia, with children under four at the greatest risk of anaphylaxis.

But, in a disturbing trend, the rates of teenagers and adults admitted to hospital with the potentially fatal allergic reaction has more than doubled in recent years.

The new Victorian and ACT research shows that the burden of food allergies is now shifting to older children and teenagers but, alarmingly, it is this age group most at risk of fatal reactions.

University of Canberra lead researcher Dr Raymond Mullins said his team set out to investigate if the rates of anaphylaxis had increased in the seven years since 2005.

They found a 1.5-fold increase in all anaphylaxis admissions, but when it came to children aged 5-14 the rate of severe reactions more than doubled, much greater than any other age group.

One out of every 500 hospital admissions for children in this age group is now for ­anaphylaxis.

It showed that doctors needed to be vigilant when it came to this group of patients, fellow researcher Murdoch Childrens Research Institute Professor Mimi Tang said.

“What we are now seeing is a rapidly increasing burden of disease among teenagers who are at an increased risk of fatality,” she said.

Previous research has shown that deaths from severe allergic reactions peaked in people aged 10-35.

Prof Tang said the reason for the rise in severe reactions in this age group could be caused by a number of factors, including a combination of increased risk-taking behaviours, a shift in responsibility from parents to the child, and the inability to control the environment­ around them.

The cause of increasing rates of food allergy in the population is still unclear, but risk factors include early exposure to environmental factors that may impact on genes, the hygiene hypothesis, the age of the introduction of allergenic foods and vitamin D exposure­.

In any case, the impact on individuals and the healthcare system continues to grow.

Melbourne teenager Caitlin Louey, 16, has anaphylactic reactions to peanuts, walnuts and pecans but, unlike many others her age, as she has gotten older she has found her food allergy easier to manage.

The study findings are published today in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical ­Immunology.

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