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Allergic gastroenteritis hospital admission time trends in Australia and New Zealand
Author(s) -
Mullins Raymond J,
Turner Paul J,
Barnes Elizabeth H,
Campbell Dianne E
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.13767
Subject(s) - medicine , confidence interval , epidemiology , food allergy , pediatrics , population , oral food challenge , anaphylaxis , allergy , australian population , demography , immunology , environmental health , sociology
Aim Recent epidemiological studies indicate increases in hospital food allergy‐related anaphylaxis admission rates in Australian and New Zealand. The aim of the study was to examine whether non‐ IgE ‐mediated food allergy might have increased in parallel. Methods We analysed childhood hospital admissions rates by ICD 10 codes for allergic gastroenteritis ( AG ) and infective gastroenteritis in Australia and New Zealand between June 1998 and July 2014. Results In Australia, most AG ‐related admissions (73%) occurred in those aged <1 year and increased by 7.3%/year (95% confidence interval ( CI ) 5.5–9.3, P < 0.0001) from 6.8 to 26.5/10 5 population. Similar trends were observed for New Zealand; 81% of admissions occurred in those aged <1 year and increased by 9.4%/year (95% CI 5.5–9.3, P < 0.0001) from 7.2 to 30.7/10 5 population. By contrast there were no significant changes in AG ‐related admission rates in the older patients and infective gastroenteritis admissions fell in both countries in those aged <1 year; Australia by 4.4%/year (95% CI 4.3–4.6, P < 0.0001) and in New Zealand by 5.8%/year (95% CI 5.4–6.2, P < 0.0001). Conclusion We observed a fourfold increase in AG ‐related admission rates in two countries with known high rates of IgE ‐mediated food allergy/anaphylaxis. If confirmed by other studies, it will be of interest to determine if factors thought to contribute to the increase in IgE ‐mediated food allergy might also play a role in non‐ IgE ‐mediated gastroenterological food allergy syndromes.