Food allergies were not associated with asthma severity in children

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Food allergies were not associated with asthma severity among children and adolescents with asthma, according to data recently presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting.

Sandeep Puranik, MBBS, DCH,MD, chief resident in the department of pediatrics at the Flushing Hospital Medical Center, New York, and colleagues conducted a retrospective review of 104 children (aged 0 to 18 years) treated at the hospital’s Ambulatory Care Clinic from October 2012 to 2013.

Sandeep Puranik

The researchers confirmed children with at least one allergy (56.7%) based on positive ImmunoCAP scores, but found no significant differences between asthma scores in children with or without allergies, according to data.

“Allergies and asthma often coexist. However, from our study, we did not find statistically significant relationships between the presence of allergies and asthma severity,” Puranik told Healio Allergy.

The most common allergies identified by Puranik and colleagues were egg white (20.2%), peanut (16.3%) and hazelnut (15.4%).

Additional abstract data indicated no significant differences in asthma severity regarding egg white (P=.362), peanut (P=.509), and hazelnut (P=.204) allergens; no link between asthma severity based on age or gender among children and adolescents with (P=.89) and without (P=.22) allergies.

The researchers reported they were unable to control for medication use for asthma management. Other limitations included the small study sample size and ethnic diversity. – by Samantha Costa

For more information:

Puranik S. #2902.20. Presented at: PAS 2014; May 2-6; Vancouver, British Columbia.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.