title: [Child food allergy: results of a Belgian cohort].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Food Allergy is a public health problem because of its increasingly prevalence, its severity and the difficulty of diagnosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  to describe the responsible food allergens and the clinical features of food allergy in a large group of Belgian children.
  
  
  METHODS
  156 cases of food allergy observed between May 2002 and May 2005 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients have specific IgE. Unequivocal history, response to elimination diet, labial or oral food challenge confirmed the diagnostic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median age is 26 months (range 1 months-14 years) and male to female ratio is 1.6. Fifty-nine percent of the cases are younger than 3 years. Family history of atopic disease is found in 80.3%. Foods most commonly involved are: eggs (31%), tree nuts (18.1% including hazelnuts 12.3%), cow's milk (16.1%), peanuts (13.2%), fish (4.5%), latex fruits (4.5%).The clinical manifestations are: atopic dermatitis (44.2%), urticaria (40.4%), angioedema (36.5%), gastrointestinal symptoms (21.8%), laryngeal edema (11.5%), asthma (9%), oral allergy syndrome (7.7%), systemic reactions (7.7%) and anaphylactic shock (3.8%). Multiple food allergies are rare: 78.9% of our population have one or two food allergies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study confirms the usual distribution of food allergens in children. It shows that only four allergens (egg, tree nut, cow's milk, peanut) are responsible for 78.4% of the reactions and highlights the emergence of tree nuts allergy, particularly hazelnuts, in Belgium.
authors.affiliation: Service de Pneumologie et d'Allergologie, Clinique de l'Anaphylaxie alimentaire Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, ULB.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mulier
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hanssens
authors.forename: Ph
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaouat
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Casimir
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies