Estimating the prevalence of milk, egg, and wheat allergies in the Canadian population
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ALLERGY, ASTHMA & CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY
POSTER PRESENTATION
Open Access
Estimating the prevalence of milk, egg, and wheat allergies in the Canadian population Lianne Soller1*, Joseph Fragapane1, Moshe Ben-Shoshan2, Daniel Harrington3, Reza Alizadehfar2, Lawrence Joseph1,4, Yvan St Pierre1, Samuel Godefroy5, Susan Elliott3, Ann Clarke1,6 From AllerGen NCE Inc.’s Fifth Annual Research Conference: Innovation from Cell to Society Québec City, QC, Canada. 7-9 February 2010 Background Milk and egg are the most common allergens in childhood. Recent reports also indicate that wheat may contribute to a significant number of food-related anaphylactic events. However, there have so far been no Canadian studies to assess the prevalence of these three important allergens. Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of milk, egg, and wheat allergies in the Canadian population. Materials and methods We performed a cross-sectional, nationwide, telephone survey adapted from a questionnaire used by Sicherer in the US to assess the prevalence of other food allergies [1,2]. Telephone numbers were randomly selected from the electronic white pages and an information letter was mailed to households. Respondents were eligible to participate if they were 18 or older, were living in the household, and appeared to have no language-mentalhearing barriers to understanding the questions. To optimize response rates and minimize selection bias, up to ten attempts were made to contact households, calling was done on different days and at different times during the day. Individuals were asked whether they had an allergy to milk, egg, and/or wheat. Results Of 10,596 households surveyed, 3666 responded, representing 9667 individuals (35% response rate). Of these, 202 (2.09% [95% CI, 1.81,2.39%]) self-reported an allergy to milk, 77 (0.8% [0.63,0.99%]) to egg, and 74 (0.77% [0.6,0.96%]) to wheat. Egg allergy was more prevalent in children than adults, and wheat allergy was more 1
Division of Clinical Epidemiology, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
prevalent in adults than children. Both egg and wheat allergies were more prevalent in households with a postsecondary graduate. Regional differences between allergies to milk, wheat and egg were also evident, with Quebec showing a lower prevalence compared to elsewhere in Canada. The unusually high prevalence of milk and wheat allergy in adults is not consistent with the literature [3,4], and may be due to participant confusion with lactose intolerance and celiac disease, respectively. Currently, our research team is contacting participants from the survey in order to validate their report of allergy to milk, egg and/or wheat.
Conclusions This is the first nationwide Canadian study to determine the prevalence of milk, egg, and wheat; three allergens which affect many Canadians and may cause life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. Because of the potential danger associated with having a food allergy, it is crucial to
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