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Food Allergy

Brian P Vickery, MD and Idil D Ezhuthachan, MS, MD Reviewed 04/2024
 


BASICS

Food allergies are adverse health effects arising from a specific immune response that occurs reproducibly on exposure to a given food. Immune responses can be IgE-mediated or non-IgE mediated....

DIAGNOSIS

HISTORY

  • Symptoms after food ingestion/exposure—usually within minutes

  • Document a temporal relationship between symptoms and suspected food.

  • Differentiate true food allergy/hypersensitivity from...

TREATMENT

GENERAL MEASURES

  • Food avoidance is the mainstay of treatment. Patients with severe food allergy should meticulously avoid their offending foods and carry an epinephrine auto-injector.

  • Immunoth...

ONGOING CARE

FOLLOW-UP RECOMMENDATIONS

Patient Monitoring

Follow-up skin tests and/or serum IgE studies as clinically indicated 

DIET

  • Strict avoidance of offending food

  • Dietary counseling to maintain a nut...

REFERENCES

1
Warren CM, Jiang J, Gupta RS. Epidemiology and Burden of Food Allergy. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2020;20(2):6.
2
Coulson E, Rifas-Shiman SL, Sordillo J, et al. Racial, ethnic, and socioeconom...

ADDITIONAL READING

Fleischer DM, Chan ES, Venter C, et al. A Consensus Approach to the Primary Prevention of Food Allergy Through Nutrition: Guidance from the American Academy of Allergy, A...

SEE ALSO

Anaphylaxis; Celiac Disease; Irritable Bowel Syndrome 

CODES

ICD10

  • T78.1XXA Oth adverse food reactions, not elsewhere classified, init

  • T78.00XA Anaphylactic reaction due to unspecified food, init encntr

  • L27.2 Dermatitis due to ingested food

  • L50.0 Allergic urt...

CLINICAL PEARLS

  • Up to 20% of children with peanut allergy may outgrow their sensitivity. Most other common childhood food allergies are outgrown by adulthood.

  • Oral itching following ingestion of fresh ...

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