Participant Population and History Collection
The study population comprised 200 physician-diagnosed fish-allergic
patients recruited from five regional hospitals in Hong Kong (Prince of
Wales Hospital, Queen Mary Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Yan Chai
Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital) from 2019 to 2023. Subjects
were recruited when they had a convincing history of immediate fish
allergy as defined by immediate allergic symptoms within 2 hours
following fish ingestion within two years before recruitment.
Demographic data of the study population as well as their clinical
history was collected with a standardized questionnaire. All
participants were asked to indicate all fish species they had tried,
including those eliciting an allergic response and tolerated without any
symptoms, as well as their consumption pattern of fish in the past two
years. Participants and/or their legal guardians gave written informed
consent. Ethical approvals were obtained from the Joint Chinese
University of Hong Kong-New Territories East Cluster Clinical Research
Ethics Committee (reference 2019.612)