Difficulties and mistakes or how competent is diagnosis “Food allergy” (review with elements of own studies)

Abstract

Actuality of the study of the food allergy (FA) in children is caused by it’s polisystemic and polispecific clinical symptoms. Food allergy – conception more pathophysiological, than clinical. There are several diseases in the international diseases classification that are associated with FA concept. All they have similarity – allergic inflammation in the basis, other are differences up to target-organ. These facts prove need to work up new diagnostic and treatment strategies for FA management. The aim of our work was to find out difficulties in FA diagnosis. Materials and methods. We had analyze indexes of the work of the allegrocenter in the Zaporizhia city multifield children hospital in 2011-2013 years. Case histories of the 67 children with FA were studied. All patients passed questionnaire about clinical symptoms and their manifestations. Results. In spite of the decrease in demographic indices allergological morbidity prolongs to grow. We founded out the next difficulties in the management of the FA patients. Most part of children are in the outpatient department. Frequently practitioners persistent skin elements diagnose as atopic dermatitis although it can be true food allergy or food intolerance or atopic exema. Each of these conditions require separate special treatment and further recommendations. Sometimes children with gastroenterological symptoms of the FA are treated against infections due to the similarity of clinical sighs to the intestinal infectious invasion. Questionnaire of the 67 children with food allergy and their parents showed that about 13% of them at least once had specific gastroenterological food allergy symptoms, that were caused by food intake and repeated in time periods after recurrent food intake. Conclusion. Conceptional and clinical difficulties associated with food allergy in children requires further studies of the mechanisms of it’s occurrence. This will allow to increase quality of the FA diagnostics and treatment.

Keywords

• food allergy
• children
• international diseases classifi cation