Epidemiological profile of people with food allergies treated at a university hospital

• Autor(a) principal: Vital de Oliveira, Vinícius
• Data de Publicação: 2024
• Outros Autores: Abdias Varjão, Stephany, Figuerêdo Moreira, Iramirton
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista de Epidemiologia e Controle de Infecção
• DOI: 10.17058/reci.v14i3.19141
• Texto Completo: https://online.unisc.br/seer/index.php/epidemiologia/article/view/19141
• topic: Food hypersensitivity; epidemiology; allergens; Allergy and Immunology; Hipersensibilidad alimentaria; epidemiología; Alérgenos; Alergia e Inmunología; Hipersensibilidade alimentar; epidemiologia; alérgenos; Alergia e Imunologia

Background and Objectives: food allergy is a disease that has an abnormal immune response after contact with a certain food. It represents a significant disorder, as it involves dietary, social and psychological restrictions. Thus, this work aims to describe the profile of the people treated at an allergy and clinical immunology outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Maceió, Alagoas. Methods: this is a descriptive and quantitative study, based on the analysis of medical records of patients with food allergy treated at the Hospital Universitário Professor Alberto Antunes Allergy and Clinical Immunology Outpatient Clinic, from October 2016 to October 2023. Results: of the 678 patients, 233 were included, with a prevalence of women (61.8%) and an average age of 21.8 years (SD= ±17.1). The predominant allergens were seafood (25.9%), cow’s milk protein (24.2%), egg (10.3%), fruits (9.3%), milk (7.6%), grains (5.8%), fish (4.1%), meat (4.1%), chocolate (2.0%) and vegetables (1.0%). Conclusion: the population studied in this research presents an epidemiological profile similar to the data in the literature, and shows characteristics that justify the need for greater attention to early diagnosis and treatment, since there was a prevalence of involvement in the age group of young adults who are economically active, in addition to the significant presence of common foods in the menu of the Brazilian population. Furthermore, the diagnosis of food allergy is shared with other immunoallergic diseases, which makes it essential to encourage studies that analyze the pathophysiological relationship between these.