Food allergic reactions during the Covid‐19 pandemic lockdown in Israeli children

Abstract

To the Editor, Coronavirus disease 2019 , the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has affected Israel along with most other nations during the current global pandemic.On March 19, 2020, a national state of emergency and lockdown was declared. 1 These events led to an extremely unusual situation in which children stayed only at home, with their primary caregiver. Therefore, we aim to determine the incidence, risk factors for food allergic reaction (FAR) and parental willingness to seek medical treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown compared to the preceding 3 months. An online questionnaire was developed by the authors using the Google drive application. The questionnaire comprised 32 items (Appendix S1) eliciting data about the food allergy (FA) diagnosis, number and nature of FARs before and during the lockdown period, allergy treatment availability and follow-up. The survey began on April 19, 2020 and ended on May 21, 2020. The definition of a FAR was based on the symptoms characterization of the Food Allergy and anaphylaxis Emergency Care Plan (FARE). 2 Notably, this document is endorsed by the Israel Association of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and distributed to every patient. A link to the questionnaire was posted on the website of Israel Food Allergy Support Network (YAHEL). A total of 701 questionnaires were completed. Only patients diagnosed with IgE mediated FA by an allergist were included in the study. Fiftysix questionnaires were excluded (25-not diagnosed by allergist, 23-born in 2020, 6-OIT, 1-non-IgE allergy, 1-idiopathic anaphylaxis). Thus, the study included 645 children with FA (65.3% male;age 5.9 ± 3.7 years, range 0.3-18.5 years). Of these, 395 (61.2%)

The effect of allergy and asthma as a comorbidity on the susceptibility and outcomes of COVID-19

“…However, an Israeli survey found that the reported food allergic reactions during COVID-19 lockdown were lower than those in the previous 3 months. Young age, history of allergic reactions and allergy to multiple allergens were identified as risk factors for FA in preschool children ( 118 ). Proper management of FA during COVID-19, including FA diagnosis, FA prevention, management of anaphylaxis, oral food challenge and oral immunotherapy, has been discussed elsewhere ( 119 ).…”