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Food Allergy

Stanley Fineman, MD and Brian P Vickery, MD Reviewed 06/2022
 


BASICS

Food allergy is defined as an adverse health effect arising from a specific immune response that occurs reproducibly on exposure to a given food. 

DESCRIPTION

  • Hypersensitivity reaction related to...

DIAGNOSIS

HISTORY

  • Symptoms after food ingestion/exposure—usually within 30 minutes of ingestion but could be delayed 4 to 8 hours

  • Document a temporal relationship between symptoms and suspected food. In...

TREATMENT

GENERAL MEASURES

  • Offending food avoidance is the most effective treatment.

  • Patients with severe food allergy should be meticulous about food avoidance. They should carry epinephrine for self-a...

ONGOING CARE

FOLLOW-UP RECOMMENDATIONS

Patient Monitoring

  • As needed

  • Many patients are routinely seen at least annually, with follow-up skin tests and/or serum IgE studies as clinically indicated in order...

REFERENCES

1
Sicherer  SH, Sampson  HA. Food allergy: epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment. J Allergy Clin Immunol.  2014;133(2):291–308. [View Abstract on ...

ADDITIONAL READING

  • Du Toit  G, Roberts  G, Sayre  PH, et al; for LEAP Study Team. Randomized trial of peanut consumption in infants at risk for peanut allergy. N Engl J Med....

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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