Food-Induced Anaphylaxis in Asian Children: Study in A Tertiary Care Center

Food allergy is one of the most important causes of anaphylaxis in children. Causative foods may be different based on geographical regions and dietary pattern. We sought to characterize features of food-induced anaphylaxis by performing a retrospective review of medical records of children diagnosed with this disorder in a tertiary care center in Thailand between 2008 and 2017. Sixty-one episodes of food-induced anaphylaxis occurred in 56 children (80% boys, median age 7.8 years old). The most frequent clinical manifestation was skin symptoms (urticarial, angioedema) which occurred in all of the patients, followed by respiratory (84%), gastrointestinal (51%) and cardiovascular (16%) symptoms. Hypotension was found in 5%. There was no biphasic reaction. The most common food allergen was shellfish (43%), followed by wheat (11%), cow’s milk (11%), egg (8%), fried insect (8%), fishes (2%), banana (2%), sesame (2%) and peanut (2%). Adrenaline was given in 97% of episodes and no repeated dose was required. Food-induced anaphylaxis in children in our population affected predominantly male. Biphasic reaction rarely occurred. Peanut anaphylaxis was uncommon. Some causative foods were unique to the local culinary traditions.