Prevalence of IgE-mediated cow milk, egg, and peanut allergy in young Singapore children

Abstract

Background: The rising prevalence of food allergy reported in the United States, UK, and Australia may be attributable to the rise in peanut allergy prevalence. The food allergy prevalence in other parts of the world such as Asia is, however, less well documented.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of cow's milk, egg, and peanut allergies in a general population of Singaporean children below 30 months of age.

Methods: A total of 4,115 children from the general population who attended well-baby visits between 2011 and 2015 completed standardized questionnaires to elicit a convincing history of food allergy to estimate the population prevalence of food allergies.

Results: The prevalence of a convincing history of cow's milk allergy was 0.51% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.3-0.7), hen's egg allergy 1.43% (95% CI, 1.1-1.8), and peanut allergy 0.27% (95% CI, 0.12-0.42). Of the 15 of 59 children with a convincing history of hen's egg allergy who consented, 12 (80%) had corroborative positive skin prick tests.

Conclusion: The prevalence of food allergy, in particular peanut allergy, in children below 2 years of age is lower in this South East Asian population than reported in Western cohorts. Further research should focus on deciphering differential risk factors for food allergy across different geographical locations.

Keywords: Asia; Child; Cow’s milk; Egg; Food allergy; Peanut.

Fig. 1. Study flow diagram. Convincing food allergy was defined as meeting 3 criteria – firstly, a reaction within 2 hours of intake; secondly, any of the following symptoms of urticaria, skin rash, angioedema, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, low blood pressure, difficulty breathing, or wheezing; and thirdly, avoiding the food of concern at the time of survey.