Food allergy in Catalonia: Clinical manifestations and its association with airborne allergens.
BACKGROUND
Food allergy affects around 6% of the European population and its prevalence worldwide has been increasing in the last decades, but studies focused on investigating food allergy epidemiology in Europe are lacking.


OBJECTIVE
The Cibus project was created to register the main culprit foods and their clinical manifestations in food allergic patients in Catalonia.


METHODS
A specific online database was designed. Allergists from eight different Catalan hospitals registered the new diagnoses of food allergy.


RESULTS
618 food allergic patients were included. Egg and milk were the main elicitors in the early ages, while fruits and nuts were the most frequent in patients >14 years old. Fish was more frequent in children, while seafood and Anisakis allergy were more frequent in the >14-year-old group. Overall, peach was the most prevalent food eliciting an allergic reaction (10%). Food allergy diagnosis was reached using compatible clinical history and positive skin prick test to the involved food in 98% of cases. Globally, urticaria was the most frequently reported manifestation in our population (48.2%), followed by oral allergy syndrome (25.6%) and anaphylaxis (24.8%).


CONCLUSIONS
The Cibus project gives a full overview of the profile of food allergic patients in Catalonia and reinforces the predominance of plant food allergies in the Mediterranean area.
Unitat d'Al·lèrgia, Institut Clínic del Tòrax (ICT), Hospital Clínic, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
J
J
Sánchez-López
Allergy Department, Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.
V
V
Gázquez
Allergy Department, Hospital Platón, Barcelona, Spain.
N
N
Rubira
Pediatric Allergy Department, Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí, Sabadell, Spain.
L
L
Valdesoiro
Allergy Section, Medicine Department, Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
M
M
Guilarte
Unitat d'Al·lèrgia, Institut Clínic del Tòrax (ICT), Hospital Clínic, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
A
A
Garcia-Moral
Allergy Unit, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain.
N
N
Depreux
Servei de Pneumologia i Al·lèrgia, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
L
L
Soto-Retes
Allergy Unit, Hospital General de l'Hospitalet, Consorci Sanitari Integral, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.
M
M
De Molina
Allergy Unit, Medicine Department, IDIBELL, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.
O
O
Luengo
Allergy Unit, Medicine Department, IDIBELL, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.
R
R
Lleonart
Allergy Unit, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain. Electronic address: maria.basagana.torrento@gmail.com.
M
M
Basagaña
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D003429:Cross Reactions; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000276:immunology; D015995:Prevalence; D012882:Skin Tests; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
D000485:Allergens; D052638:Particulate Matter
Allergy diagnosis; Cross-sectional study; Food allergy; Food epidemiology; Online database