Umeå University's logo

Aim: International reports have suggested that food allergies and food‐induced anaphylaxis have increased in children. We investigated the incidence of emergency food reactions over a 10‐year period.

Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of children presenting to Umeå University hospital, Sweden, with an emergency food reaction from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2015. Cases were identified using discharge codes for allergies and anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis cases were included if they fulfilled the international criteria.

Results: We found emergency food allergy reactions in 519 children (58% boys) from 2006–2015 at a median age of 1.3 years. One‐third were hospitalised (32%) including 71/99 cases of anaphylaxis. Milk and eggs were the most commonly identified triggers. Emergency reactions to eggs increased during the study period with a Spearman rank correlation coefficient of 0.770 (p < 0.01) and the figures for anaphylaxis were 0.745 (p = 0.013). The incidence of food‐induced anaphylaxis increased and was 30 per 100 000 person‐years for the study period.

Conclusion: Most of the emergency reactions, treated by secondary care paediatricians and emergency physicians, were to milk and eggs. Allergic reactions to eggs increased from 2006 to 2015, as did food‐related anaphylaxis.