Current Issue February 2012 | Vol. 32, No. 1

Current Topic

Food AllergyGuest Editor: Anna Nowak-Wegrzyn

Allergic reactions to milk were first described by Hippocrates more than two thousand years ago; however, it is only in the past two decades that food allergy has emerged as an important public health problem affecting people of all ages in societies with a western lifestyle, such as US, Canada, UK, Australia, and Western Europe. The overall prevalence of food allergy increased by 18% from 1997 to 2007 in US children. In particular, peanut allergy tripled over the similar period in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) epidemics have been recognized in children and adults in the past decade; diagnosis of food allergy in EoE is especially challenging due to the lack of a noninvasive diagnostic test. Food allergy is the most common cause of the anaphylaxis in the outpatient setting for all ages and may lead to fatalities. The diagnosis of food allergy requires labor-intense, medically supervised oral food challenges that carry a risk for anaphylaxis and are not readily available to all patients. Finally, there is no cure for food allergy; management relies on food avoidance and timely treatment of acute reactions. Food avoidance is difficult to adhere to; it affects the quality of life and may result in nutritional deficiencies. The growing recognition of the burden of food allergies and challenges in diagnosis and management are driving multifaceted research approaches. This special issue of the Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America gives an overview of the relevant recent advances in food allergy.