RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Food allergy is a health problem that has increased its prevalence in the last decade, and plays a role in the multiple symptoms of allergic diseases like asthma, atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis. It has become the new epidemic with significant implications. OBJETIVE: To describe the frequency of sensitization to food antigens by skin tests, prick-to-prick and atopy patch tests, in a group of allergic children in a pediatric hospital. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the results of skin tests with foods, prick-to-prick and atopy patch tests, in the clinical records of 170 and 140 children respectively, with a diagnosis of asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, food allergy or eosinophilic gastroenteropathies, and analyzed the results with measures of central tendency and chi2 test. RESULTS: Immediate hypersensitivity tests with fresh foods (prick-to-prick) were positive in 135 cases. Cowís milk was positive in 28.8%, followed by egg white with 20.1% and banana in 19.4%. In the group of 1 to 5 years, cowís milk was positive in 26.9% (p <0.05). In children with a previous diagnosis of food allergy cowís milk was positive in 27.1% (p<0.05). In delayed hypersensitivity tests (patch tests) there were 105 positive results; soybean was positive in 53.3% of cases tested, followed by peanut and chocolate with 50.5%. In the group with atopic dermatitis soybean was positive in 55.6% (p <0.05). In the group of 1 to 5 years, soybean was positive in 52.1% (p <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In children with various allergic diseases, with prick-to-prick skin tests, cowís milk was the food allergen with more frequent positive results. When we used atopy patch tests, soybean was the food with more positive results. We observe sensitization to different foods, according to the mechanism of injury, type I or IV, which is dependent on the type of skin tests used.
