FRIDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Just over half of children with hen egg allergies can tolerate baked eggs in an oral food challenge (OFC); and more than a quarter of children over the age of 10 with food allergies develop tolerance, according to two studies presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, held from Nov. 8 to 13 in Anaheim, Calif.
Rushani Saltzman, M.D., from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted an OFC to baked eggs in 36 pediatric patients with a hen egg allergy. The researchers found that 56 percent of patients were tolerant to baked eggs (median dose 2/5 baked egg). In the baked egg reactive cohort, trends were noted toward male gender, younger age, and larger median egg skin prick test wheal size.
In a second study, Ruchi Gupta, M.D., from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, and colleagues describe factors associated with the development of tolerance to the eight most common food allergies in a representative sample of 40,104 children. Among children older than 10 years, 2,120 cases of food allergy were identified. The researchers found that 28 percent of children had developed tolerance to their food allergy. Compared with food allergies in general, children with milk and egg allergies more frequently developed tolerance (45 and 55 percent, respectively) and those with tree nut or shellfish allergies (16 and 14 percent, respectively) developed tolerance less frequently.
"While these studies show many positive findings for children with egg allergy, parents must practice caution," ACAAI president-elect Richard Weber, M.D., said in a statement. "Introducing an allergen back into a child's diet can have severe consequences, and only should be done under the care of a board-certified allergist."
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