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

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 a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Vital de Oliveira, Vinícius, Abdias Varjão, Stephany, Figuerêdo Moreira, Iramirton
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul (UNISC)
Repositorio:Revista de Epidemiologia e Controle de Infecção
Idioma:inglés
portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.online.unisc.br:article/19141
Acceso en línea:https://seer.unisc.br/index.php/epidemiologia/article/view/19141
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Hipersensibilidade alimentar
epidemiologia
alérgenos
Alergia e Imunologia
Hipersensibilidad alimentaria
epidemiología
Alérgenos
Alergia e Inmunología
Food hypersensitivity
epidemiology
allergens
Allergy and Immunology
Descripción
Sumario: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.