Sensitization to Rice in Allergic Children

Abstract

here are insufficient published data on the prevalence of rice sensitization in Egypt. Our aim was to screen for rice sensitization among a group of physician diagnosed allergic Egyptian children who were followed up in the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Unit, Children's Hospital Ain Shams University. This cross sectional study included 150 allergic Egyptian children recruited in the period from April 2019 to September 2020. They were 90 (60%) males and 60 (40%) females with ages ranging from 6 months to 18 years and An informed consent was obtained from the parents or caregivers prior to enrollment. Detailed clinical history was taken for the age, age at diagnosis, symptoms of allergic disease, family history and medical intervention. A clinical examination was conducted to verify the diagnosis and exclude other chronic illness. The study measurements include skin prick testing with a commercial rice extract, prick prick testing using cooked rice and OCT for 11 Cases with positive SPT/or PPT. Based on physician diagnosis, respiratory manifestation in the form of bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis were present in 18%, 8% respectively, urticaria in 24.5% and atopic dermatitis in 4.7%. Patients with more than on