Food Allergy and its clinical symptoms among people of Soran City, Erbil, Iraq

Food allergy is an immune mediated non-toxic adverse reaction to a certain type of foods. It is a worldwide health problem. Several recent researches highlight awareness and concern about this issue. The current study performed by randomized cross–sectional survey and the data were analysed statistically. The present finding showed that among the 248 individuals whom participated in the questionnaires, 134 were considered as allergic subjects, whereas 114 of the participants had no food allergy. Regarding gender, 63 (47.1%) of the allergic people were male and 71 (52.9%) were female. According to age, all age groups (<10 – >29) were sensitized at least to one type of foods. The most common three allergic foods were hot pepper, followed by eggs and garlic. The timing of the immune reaction is critical began within 10 minutes of exposure to the allergen to more than one hour. Furthermore, the most appeared symptoms that these individuals suffering from were redness, urticaria, vomiting and diarrhoea, which correlated significantly with type of allergen. Food allergy in Soran city was high and more people suffered from it. Young ages were more affected than adults, and redness was the main noticed symptom. Hot pepper and eggs were the most causative food allergy among the selected foods .Food allergy is a growing health concern, so more studies directed toward prevention with more effective management strategies are needed.