There’s a recent research from the University of Southampton in Southampton, England, regarding relation of kiwi fruit and allergy. It concludes that kiwi fruit appears to be a significant food allergen especially among kids. This fruit is capable of causing severe reactions combine with other allergic reactions. This study, for the fist time is designed to investigate the clinical characteristics of kiwi-fruit allergy in adults and children. The findings demonstrate that the allergy can result in severe reactions, particularly in young children who suffer from other allergies.
Although kiwi fruit has been recognized as a food allergen extract for over 20 years, clinical knowledge about the allergy has depended on reports of small groups, and few studies have evaluated its clinical characteristics or evaluated methods of diagnosis, such as allergy skin tests and double-blind food sensitivity challenges.
A pediatrician and clinical research fellow at the University of Southampton, Jane Lucas, MD, commented: “The large number of self-selecting respondents to our study suggest that the allergy may be more common in the UK than previously recognized by the medical profession. Our findings clearly show that allergy to kiwi fruit allergy is an important problem, with mostsevere food allergies reactions occurring in young children. It also highlights important features of the allergy which further our clinical progress in this field. There is now a need for additional studies to explain the apparent increasing prevalence of allergy and to explain the differences between reactions in children and adults.”
The study conducted postal questionnaire to 300 people who took part in by completing a self-administered form. Those who reported symptoms suggesting they were allergic to the fruit were invited to undergo clinical investigation of their reported symptoms. A total of 45 people over the age of 6 took part in this phase of the research, selected primarily by their availability and motivation to attend the research center. The study confirmed a definite allergy to kiwi fruit in over half of these patients.
From those 300 people, their age of patients at the time of their first reaction ranged from 4 months to 71 years. In the study, nearly 75% of the children aged 5 years or younger had reacted on their first known exposure to the fruit; in comparison, only a fifth of the adults in the study reacted on their first exposure.
Based on timing and severity of reactions, they examined that 64% of the subjects reported suffering food allergy symptoms in less than 5 minutes. Reactions included tingling and sore mouth; swelling of the lips, tongue, and face; skin rash; vomiting and abdominal pain; and, in the most severe cases, breathing difficulties, wheezing, and collapse. The most common symptoms were unpleasant itching and soreness of the mouth, with the most common severe symptom being wheezing. Severe symptoms were most likely to occur in young children. In addition, over a third of those who initially suffered a mild reaction subsequently had moderate or severe symptoms.
Well, there is some limitation of this study as pointed out by researches at Southampton, not least because all those taking part were self-selected volunteers who contacted the study because they suspected kiwi-fruit allergy. This may explain the greater number of adult females taking part, as well as a fairly high percentage of subjects with severe symptoms. The study is therefore unable to provide an estimate of the prevalence of the problem.
