title: Exploring racial differences in IgE-mediated food allergy in the WHEALS birth cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Suspected food allergies are the cause of more than 200,000 visits to the emergency department annually. Racial differences in the prevalence of food allergy have also been reported, but the evidence is less conclusive. Researchers continue to struggle with the identification of food allergy for epidemiologic studies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore racial differences in IgE-mediated food allergy (IgE-FA) in a birth cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a panel of board-certified allergists to systematically identify IgE-FA to egg, milk, or peanut in a multiethnic birth cohort in which patient medical history, patient symptoms, and clinical data were available through 36 months of age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 590 infants analyzed, 52.9% were male and 65.8% African American. Sensitization (serum specific IgE >0.35 IU/mL) to the food allergens was significantly higher for African American children compared with non-African American children as has been previously reported. No statistically significant racial/ethnic differences in IgE-FA were observed; however, a higher proportion of African American children were designated as having peanut allergy, and the percentage of African American children with an IgE level greater than 95% predictive decision points for peanut was 1.7% vs 0.5% for non-African American children. With the use of logistic regression, race/ethnicity was not significantly associated with IgE-FA (adjusted odds ratio, 1.12; 95% confidence interval, 0.58-2.17; P = .75) but was associated with sensitization to more than 1 of the food allergens (adjusted odds ratio, 1.80; 95% confidence interval, 1.22-2.65; P = .003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We did not observe an elevated risk of IgE-FA for African American children, although established differences in sensitization were observed. Racial/ethnic differences in sensitization must be taken into consideration when investigating disparities in asthma and allergy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan; Center for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan. Electronic address: cjoseph1@hfhs.org.
authors.forename: Christine L M
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.affiliation: Center for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan; Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Zoratti
authors.affiliation: Center for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan; Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Georgia Regents University, Augusta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Dennis R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Ownby
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan; Center for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Havstad
authors.affiliation: Center for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nicholas
authors.affiliation: Center for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan; Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nageotte
authors.affiliation: Center for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan; Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Rana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Misiak
authors.affiliation: Center for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Enberg
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Jerel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ezell
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan; Center for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Christine Cole
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012882:Skin Tests
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D007073:Immunoglobulin E
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