title: Prevalence of sensitization to food allergens and challenge proven food allergy in patients visiting allergy centers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.
abstract: In this study, we estimated the prevalence of food allergy in the adult allergic patients of Rawalpindi and Islamabad , Pakistan, based on self-report, skin prick test (SPT) and oral food challenge test (OFC). SPT was used for the estimation of sensitization to wheat, egg, milk, beef, chicken, mutton, fish, corn, lentils, rice, soya, peanut and banana. Among 689 patients, 39.19 % showed sensitivity to one or more foods, where, sensitization to wheat (156; 22.6 %) was highest, followed by egg (148; 21.48 %) and milk (138; 20.03 %). Sensitization to various proteins ranged between 15.53-15.97 %, while lentils, corn, rice, soya and peanut sensitization was 15.4, 16, 12.5, 12 and 11.5 % respectively. Only 7.1 % patients were SPT positive for banana allergen. SPT was performed in patients with self-reported food allergy (341/689) and also with no self-reported history of food allergy (348/689). SPT results were positive in 69.8 % of the self-report group, whereas, in the patients with no self-reported food allergy 9.2 % were found sensitized to one or more tested food allergens. 101 patients were recruited for OFC, 61 % of these were confirmed of food allergy. The prevalence of food allergy in the study population was 9 %. Food specific OFC results show that wheat allergy is affecting 1.6 % (95 % CI 0.9-2.84 %) of the total allergy patients, followed by egg allergy 1.31 % (95 % CI 0.70-2.47 %). Furthermore, corn allergy, rice allergy and peanut allergy were 1.02, 0.87 and 0.73 %, respectively. In conclusion, wheat allergy is the most prevalent, followed by egg, chicken, beef and fish allergy, respectively.
authors: Physiology/Endocrinology Lab, Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Lahore, 54590 Pakistan.
authors: Muhammad
authors: M
authors: Inam
authors: Department of Zoology, University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi (PMAS-UAAR), Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
authors: Rubaba Hamid
authors: RH
authors: Shafique
authors: Physiology/Endocrinology Lab, Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Lahore, 54590 Pakistan.
authors: Nabila
authors: N
authors: Roohi
authors: Department of Zoology, University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi (PMAS-UAAR), Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
authors: Muhammad
authors: M
authors: Irfan
authors: Allergy Asthma and Immunology Centre, Khyber Plaza Fazal-e-Haq Road, Blue Area, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors: Shahid
authors: S
authors: Abbas
authors: Institute of Biomedical and Genetic Engineering (IBGE), Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors: Muhammad
authors: M
authors: Ismail
keywords: Food allergy; Food sensitization; Oral food challenge; Skin Prick Test