The rise in allergic diseases including asthma, eczema and allergic rhinitis (AR) over the last 30-40 years has been well described using large-scale population-based studies [1]. By contrast, IgE-mediated food allergy, which also occurs in those with an atopic predisposition, has not been systematically studied in population cohorts until recently, presumably because it is less common than the other three manifestations. Recent studies showing a significant increase in the last 10 years of food allergy-related hospitalizations for anaphylaxis [2, 3], the most severe manifestation of food allergy, lend credence to the idea that there is also a rise in food allergy in general and that this may form a 'second epidemic' of allergic disease [4]. Certainly, burgeoning clinical waiting lists in Australia, Europe and the United States with children presenting with easily identifiable acute allergic IgE-mediated reactions to food (including urticara, angioedema, vomiting or anaphylaxis) suggest that the rise is not simply due to an over-reaction by the public to media reports of the devastating but extremely rare sudden death of a healthy child with food allergy-related anaphylaxis.
展开▼
