Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks allergies as the fourth most common chronic disease. Food allergie, defined as adverse immune reactions to food proteins, is an important public health problem that affects adults and children and may be increasing in prevalence.
The aim of our study is to present the biological profile of children consulting for food allergy problems.
Materials and methods: Retrospective descriptive study, spread over a period of 29 months. Concerning 177 children consulting for type I hypersensitivity problems at the CHU Ibn Rochd.
Results: 109 children (61.5%) had sensitization to at least one trophallergen. It was more frequent in boys than in girls (54% vs 46%) without statistically significant difference (p= 0.27). The most frequent food allergens in our series were: sesame 21.47%, cow’s milk 20.90%, egg white 19.21%, crab 18.08%, beef 16.38%, casein 12.43%. Total IgE was ordered for 46 patients with a median of 202.3 KU, L. 30 (65%) children had elevated total IgE and 16 (35%) children had normal total IgE, with an increase in median total IgE concentration with the number of specific IgE to which a child is sensitized.
Conclusion: Our study showed a high prevalence of sensitization to food allergens in children. Larger and more in-depth studies are needed to better understand the risk factors and mechanisms underlying food allergy in children in order to develop more effective and personalized prevention and treatment strategies.