Food Challenge and Community-Reported Reaction Profiles in Food-Allergic Children Aged 1 and 4 Years: A Population-Based Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Oral food challenge is the main tool for diagnosing food allergy, but there is little data on the reaction profiles of young children undergoing challenges, nor how these reactions compare to reactions on accidental ingestion in the community. OBJECTIVES: To compare reaction profiles from food challenges and parent-reported reactions on accidental ingestion, and assess predictors of severe reactions. METHODS: HealthNuts is a longitudinal population-based cohort study of 5276 1-year-old infants. Infants underwent skin prick tests and those with identifiable wheals were offered food challenges. Food challenges were repeated at age 4 years in those with previous food allergy or repo..