Results
3514 cases of food anaphylaxis were reported between July 2007 and March 2018, 56% in patients younger than 18 years (n=1962). Anaphylaxis due to peanut was recorded in 459 children and adolescents, representing 85% of all registered cases of peanut anaphylaxis (n=541; 15% of all food triggered anaphylaxis). Other food caused anaphylaxis in 1503 cases (51% of all non-peanut food anaphylaxis), with cow’s milk, hen’s egg, hazelnut and cashew as lead elicitors.
Median age of affected patients was higher in the peanut subgroup compared to the other food cohort (5 years, range 8 months to 17 years vs 4 years, range 1 month to 17 years; p<0.001), with a slight predominance in boys in both subgroups (F:M ratio of 1:1.5 and 1:1.8 respectively). More than half of the peanut cohort were pre-schoolers aged 0-6 years (n=282; 61%), followed by children 7-12 years (n=115; 25%) and adolescents 13-17 years (n=62; 14%), which was comparable to the other food cohort (65%, 20%, 15%) (Table 1).
The countries with the most frequent reports of peanut induced anaphylaxis in children/adolescents compared to the total case reports aged <18 years were France (n=92; 23%), Germany (n=242; 18%), Ireland (n=28; 17%), Switzerland (n=65; 15%) and Austria (n=13; 14%). Less than 10 cases of peanut anaphylaxis were reported from Greece, Spain, and Brazil, but also from Poland and Bulgaria. No case of peanut induced anaphylaxis was registered in Italy (Figure 2).