Beef Sensitization in Pediatric Patients in the Midwest

Food allergy is on the rise. It is estimated that 8% of children and 6% of adults have food allergies. It is about 3-15% of pediatric patients have meat allergy. Beef allergy is the most reported one among meat allergy. It can reach up to 6.5 % in atopic dermatitis pediatric patients. The aim is to assess the sensitization rate to beef in pediatric patient in the Midwest. Laboratory results of 483,490 specific IgE evaluations were reviewed to identify patients with positive IgE to beef. IgE determinations were performed from the year 2000 to 2015 on pediatric patients, ages 0.5 to 18 years, using the ThermoFisher ImmunoCap instrument. A test was considered positive when specific IgE values were greater than 0.35 kU/L. 509 individual patients were identified. Of those, 128 (25%) patients had positive IgE to beef; 86 (67%) were male while 42 (32%) were female. The prevalence of beef sensitization in pediatric patients in the Midwest of the US is similar to previously reported in the literature. Allergist need to be aware of beef allergy since beef is not one of the eight major food allergens in pediatric patients.