The hazards of kissing when you are food allergic. A survey on the occurrence of kiss-induced allergic reactions among 1139 patients with self-reported food hypersensitivity.
BACKGROUND
According to a few case reports, kissing can induce symptoms due to food allergy.


OBJECTIVE
We wanted to investigate the occurrence of kiss-induced allergic symptoms and other social inconveniences among patients with self-reported food hypersensitivity.


METHODS
A questionnaire was answered by 1139 patients (1-84 years old, mean age 29 years, 393 males and 746 females) who considered themselves to be food allergic.


RESULTS
12% of the patients experienced allergic symptoms when in close contact with (e.g., kissing) a person who had eaten a nontolerated food prior to the contact. Some case histories suggested that the symptoms only appeared if the food intake had occurred immediately before the kiss. In addition, the questionnaires showed that 55% had problems in daily life finding tolerable food, 44% were afraid of a severe reaction from eating nontolerated food, 13% could experience symptoms when sitting beside a person who was eating such a food, and 17% could experience symptoms in the kitchen when someone else was preparing such food.


CONCLUSIONS
What other people eat can influence the quality of life of food-allergic patients.
Eriksson
N E
NE
Lung & Allergy Clinic, County Hospital, Halmstad, Sweden. nils.e@telia.com
Möller
C
C
Werner
S
S
Magnusson
J
J
Bengtsson
U
U
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015994:Incidence; D008046:Lip; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology