VIDEO: Shellfish most common cause of ED visits for allergic reactions among adults

SAN ANTONIO — Shellfish is the most common food allergy among adults in the United States, Mahboobeh Mahdavinia, MD, PhD, FAAAAI, said in this Healio exclusive video from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.

“Studies have shown the most common cause of going to the [emergency room] for severe reaction to food is actually shellfish allergy,” Mahdavinia, chief of the division of allergy and immunology at Rush University Medical Center, said.

Finfish are the fourth most common cause of going to the ED for allergy, according to Mahdavinia, who also is a Healio Allergy/Asthma Peer Perspective Board Member. These allergies are more common among Black adults than among white adults as well, she continued.

“There’s certainly a significant cross-reactivity among the fish and among the shellfish, and there’s cross-reactivity between the shellfish group and house dust mite, cockroach and nematodes that we can see clinically through several studies,” she continued.

Watch the video for more.