Data from many studies have suggested a rise in the prevalence of food allergies during the past 10 to 20 years. Currently, no curative treatments for food allergy exist, and there are no effective means of preventing the disease. Management of food allergy involves strict avoidance of the allergen in the patient's diet and treatment of symptoms as they arise. Because diagnosis and management of the disease can vary between clinical practice settings, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) sponsored development of clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of food allergy. The guidelines establish consensus and consistency in definitions, diagnostic criteria, and management practices. They also provide concise recommendations on how to diagnose and manage food allergy and treat acute food allergy reactions. The original guidelines encompass practices relevant to patients of all ages, but food allergy presents unique and specific concerns for infants, children, and teenagers. To focus on those concerns, we describe here the guidelines most pertinent to the pediatric population.
NIAID-Sponsored 2010 Guidelines for Managing Food Allergy: Applications in the Pediatric Population
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: Dr Jones has served as a speaker and grant reviewer and has served on the medical advisory committee for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, has received funding/grant support from Dyax Corp, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, the Food Allergy Initiative, Mead Johnson, the National Peanut Board, and the National Institutes of Health, and has served as a speaker and/or consultant for Sanofi-Aventis and Abbott Laboratories; Dr Boyce has served on the advisory board of GlaxoSmithKline, has served as a consultant and/or speaker for Altana, GlaxoSmithKline, and Merck, and has received funding/grant support from the National Institutes of Health; Dr Sicherer has served on an expert panel for Sunovion, has received funding/grant support from the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, the Food Allergy Initiative, and the National Institutes of Health, and is a consultant to the Food Allergy Initiative; Dr Wood has served as a speaker/advisory board member for GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, and Dey and has received funding/grant support from Genentech and the National Institutes of Health (NIAID); Dr Assa'ad holds, or is listed as an inventor on, US patent application 10/566903, entitled “Genetic Markers of Food Allergy,” has served as a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis and as a speaker for the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, the North East Allergy Society, the Virginia Allergy Society, the New England Allergy Society, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and has received funding/grant support from GlaxoSmithKline; Dr Sampson holds, or is listed as an inventor on, multiple US patents related to food allergy, owns stock in Allertein Therapeutics, is a past president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, has served as a consultant for Allertein Therapeutics, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, and the Food Allergy Initiative, has received funding/grant support for research projects from the Food Allergy Initiative, the National Institutes of Health (NIAID, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine), and is a co-owner of Herbal Spring, LLC; and Dr Burks holds, or is listed as an inventor on, multiple US patents related to food allergy, owns stock in Allertein and MastCell, Inc, is a minority stockholder in Dannon Co Probiotics, has served as a consultant for McNeil Nutritionals, Mead Johnson, Schering-Plough, and Novartis, has served on the speaker's bureau for EpiPen/Dey, LP, has served on the data-monitoring committee for Genentech, has served on an expert panel for Nutricia, and has received funding/grant support from the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, Gerber, Mead Johnson, and the National Institutes of Health.
A. Wesley Burks, Stacie M. Jones, Joshua A. Boyce, Scott H. Sicherer, Robert A. Wood, Amal Assa'ad, Hugh A. Sampson; NIAID-Sponsored 2010 Guidelines for Managing Food Allergy: Applications in the Pediatric Population. Pediatrics November 2011; 128 (5): 955–965. 10.1542/peds.2011-0539
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