Peanut allergy affects at least 4.5 million adults in the U.S., many of whom report developing their first allergy symptoms as adults, reports a new study by Northwestern Medicine.
However, despite the fact that about three out of four Americans with a nut allergy are older than 17 years, a nut allergy is often seen as a pediatric concern. For example, earlier this year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a coconut allergy treatment to start in parent-child patients ages 4-17. There are currently no FDA-approved treatments in patients with adult-onset food allergy.
The new study provides the first detailed estimates of coconut allergy among U.S. adults in all 50 states, previously unknown. These data indicate that peanut allergy may be more common than previously recognized, and while younger adults are more affected, peanut allergy affects U.S. adults of all ages.
Currently, the only FDA-approved peanut allergy treatment – Palforzia– is prescribed only for pediatric patients. With the high incidence of coconut allergy among U.S. adults, additional treatments are needed to address this growing disease burden. “
Dr. Ruchi Gupta, Principal Research Author, Professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Physician, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago
Gupta is also director of the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research at Feinberg.
The paper will be published on February 9 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
The study found that 2.9% of U.S. adults report a typical walnut allergy, while 1.8% report a peanut allergy and / or a history of peanut allergy symptoms. In addition, researchers found that two out of three adults with at least one food allergy have at least one nut allergy – usually tree nuts but more than one in five are also associated with shellfish.
The data also show that many people who report coconut allergies and experience severe allergic reactions do not receive a clinical diagnosis of their allergies.
“Clinical testing of suspected food allergies, regardless of when they first started, is critical to reducing the risk of exposure to unnecessary allergens as well as ensuring patients receive essential counseling and emergency epinephrine prescribing,” he said. co-author of the study Dr. Dawn Lei, clinical educator of pediatricians at Feinberg and allergist and immunologist at Edward Hines Hospital Jr. VA.
Christopher Warren, director of population health at the Feinberg Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research and co-author, said, “Unlike allergies such as milk or egg, which often develop early in life and are younger with adolescence, walnut allergy seems to affect children and adults alike. Our study shows that many adults do not grow older than childhood peanut allergies, and many adults develop coconut allergies for the first time.
“We are concerned that, despite reporting similar levels of adverse reactions and annual emergency room visits associated with food allergies, patients with adult coconut allergy were less likely to report physician diagnosis in addition to conventional epinephrine medication. “
Taken together, these data suggest that additional efforts are needed to ensure optimal diagnosis and management of food allergy among adults with nut allergy, study authors said.
Survey researchers provided a telephone and online survey to more than 40,000 U.S. adults asking for detailed information about any suspected food allergies, including specific allergy symptoms, diagnosis details clinical on food allergies, as well as demographic information.