Food allergy, anaphylaxis, dermatology, and drug allergyThe risk of developing food allergy in premature or low-birth-weight children
Section snippets
Methods
The Study of Asthma Genes and the Environment (SAGE) is a study focusing on the 1995 Manitoba Birth Cohort. One of its platforms has been to analyze records from the Manitoba Health Services Insurance Plan (MHSIP) database (a population-based, linked health care administrative and prescription database). The complete healthcare records of the 1995 birth cohort, which includes physician visits, hospitalizations, and prescription drugs collected by MHSIP in the provision of universal health
Results
A total of 16,320 children were born in the province of Manitoba in 1995, of which 13,980 (85.7%) continued to live in the province in 2002. A description of these children based on birth weight and gestational age is shown in Table I. Of the 13,980 children, 881 (6.3%) were born prematurely (gestational age <37 weeks). Overall, 691 children (4.9%) were born with a birth weight less than 2500 g. From the total cohort, 592 children (4.23%) were found to have food allergy sometime in their life
Discussion
To the best of our knowledge, this population-based study is the first to examine prematurity or low birth weight and the risk of developing food allergy. Our data suggest that no association exists between gestational age and birth weight with the development of IgE-mediated food allergies. As a result, the theory that an immature gut mucosa results in increased permeability to large-molecular-weight proteins and predisposes the baby to early sensitization needs to be questioned.6, 7, 8, 9, 12
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Cited by (0)
Supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Canadian Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Foundation (CAAIF), Manitoba Institute of Child Health, Biology of Breathing Theme (MICH), and National Training Program in Allergy and Asthma (NTPAA).
Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: S. I. Huq has received grant support from the Canadian Institute of Health Research. The rest of the authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.