• The Korean Journal of Medicine
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• v.99 no.3
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• pp.145-148
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• 2024

Food allergy is an adverse reaction that occurs after ingesting food and is caused by an aberrant immune response. Taking a detailed medical history is the most important part of diagnosing food allergies. When an immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated food allergy is suspected, food-specific IgE testing can confirm the diagnosis. Allergen skin-prick tests or serum tests for specific IgE should be considered as the first line of testing, and depending on the offending food, a further prick-to-prick test with fresh food or a component-resolved diagnostic test may be helpful. Interpretation of the results should be based on the patient's medical history.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.343-350
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• 2008

Asthma and allergic diseases are one of the most common disorders in children. Due to its increased prevalence, as well as the increased morbidity and mortality from these diseases, asthma and allergic diseases have come to be recognized as a major worldwide public health issue. In addition, socioeconomic burden of asthma and allergic diseases has increased in Korea also. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) investigated the worldwide prevalence of asthma and other allergic diseases using simple standardized methods because of the comparison of asthma and allergic diseases between the countries. In Korea, several epidemiologic studies have been conducted to determine the prevalence of asthma in children. Although these studies showed increased prevalence of asthma among Korean children (from 3.4% in 1964 to 10.1% in 1989), these findings were based on data from small numbers of subjects. The first Nationwide Study of Asthma and Allergies in Korean Children, which utilized the Korean version of ISAAC written and video questionnaire, was conducted in 1995 and the second Nationwide Study of Asthma and Allergies in Korean Children was conducted in 2000, directed by the Korean Academy of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Diseases. We report here the prevalence of asthma and other allergic diseases in Korean children and adolescents, and show the changes that occurred over this 5 year period. We also describe the risk factors for development of these diseases in Korean children. We developed Korean versions of the ISAAC written (WQ) and video (AVQ) questionnaires for allergic diseases. In 1995, the enrolled population consisted of 25,117 children selected from 34 elementary school and 14,946 children selected from 34 middle school across the nation, the response rate was 94.8%. In 2000, 27,831 children selected from 34 elementary school and 15,214 children selected from 34 middle school, and the response rate was 96.4%. From these studies, we can confirm that increase of the prevalences of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis in Korea, except the prevalence of food allergy. Especially, the video questionnaire showed increases in the lifetime and 12 month prevalence rates of wheeze at rest, exercise-induced wheeze, nocturnal wheeze, nocturnal cough, and severe wheeze over this period of time in middle school children. In addition, the increase of prevalences of symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of atopic dermatitis was noted significantly. Risk factor analysis showed that body mass index (BMI), passive smoking and living with a dog or cat were associated with higher risk of wheeze. Also the occurrence of fever during infancy and the frequent use of antibiotics were associated with the risk of wheeze. In conclusion, during the 5 year period from 1995 to 2000, the prevalences of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis has increased in Korean children. BMI, passive smoking, living with a dog or cat, the fever episodes in infancy, and the frequent use of antibiotics in infancy are important risk factors to development of asthma and atopic dermatitis. In the near future, the birth cohort study will be needed to investigate the causes of this increase and the natural course of allergic diseases, then we develop the methods to control asthma and allergic diseases.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.530-541
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine the prevalence of food allergy, food allergy knowledge, and perception on food allergen labelling along with management of substitute meals in school foodservice in elementary school students in Jeju, South Korea. Methods: Six elementary schools in Jeju-si were randomly selected, and the higher grade elementary school students (n=1,500), from fourth graders to sixth graders, were surveyed using a questionnaire in July 2014. A total of 1,000 responses were used for data analysis. Results: The percentage of students who had experienced food allergy was 16.7%; 26.4% had been diagnosed as having a food allergy by doctors. Milk, crabs, and shrimps were the most frequent allergenic foods with common symptoms including urticaria followed by itching, and vomiting. As the student's grade went up, the knowledge scores on food allergy showed a significant increase. Although students with and without food allergy experience had a similar level of knowledge on food allergy and perception on food allergen labelling, students with food allergy experience had a significantly lower level of healthy dietary practices. Last, only 20.4% of students with food allergies were offered substitute meals by school foodservices, and 30.8% of students received food allergy education. Conclusion: For prevention and management of food allergies in school foodservice, schools should provide an individualized substitute meal plan and food allergy education to students, parents, and teachers.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.140-152
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• 2018

Purpose: Recently, there has been a worldwide increase in the prevalence of food allergies in children and it may cause nutritional imbalance and poor quality of life for growing children due to dietary restrictions. This study was conducted to quantitatively measure the life burden and related factors of mothers who are the primary caretakers of food-allergic children. Moreover, we generated data for use as a scientific basis for the development of a disease management program to reduce the burden on life from raising food-allergic children. Methods: Mothers of 2,005 children aged 2 years or older and enrolled in Seoul Metropolitan Atopy Free Schools in 2016 who have had diagnosis of food allergy in their lifetime were surveyed. The burden on life of parents with food-allergic children was measured using 17 questions from the Food Allergy Quality of Life-Parental Burden (FAQL-PB) questionnaire, and subjects were asked to respond with a scale of 1 ~ 7. Results: We analyzed the effects of sociodemographic factors of parents and children and the accompanying allergic disease factors on the lives of parents. The number of restricted food items due to food allergy of a child and accompanying diagnosis of atopic dermatitis had a positive (+) effect on the life burden of the parents. Conclusion: Accurate oral food challenge for food allergies should be administered to prevent excessive restriction of food intake. Moreover, efforts should be taken to prevent morbidity accompanying food allergy and relieve symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.324-333
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• 2018

The aim of this study was to investigate the latent classes and predictors of chronic diseases such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, arthritis, thyroid disease, depression, atopy, allergy, and diabetes. The subjects of this study were Korean citizens who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2014. Stratified cluster sampling method was used with a sample size of 7,550. Latent hierarchy analysis was applied to this data. Four classes were identified. Class 1 consisted of participants with hypertension and diabetes. Class 2 consisted of participants with atopy and allergies. Class 3 consisted of participants with dyslipidemia, arthritis, thyroid disease, and depression. Class 4 consisted of participants without any chronic diseases. In comparing Class 1 to Class 4, age, physical activity, self-management, obesity, and presence of high cholesterol were found to be significant. In comparing Class 2 to Class 4, gender, age, and education level were significant. When Class 3 was compared to Class 4, gender, age, pain and discomfort, as well as high cholesterol were found to be significant. Diabetes and hypertension should be treated as comorbid conditions, applying integrated treatments involving effective drug treatment, diet, and physical activity programs. Atopy was found to be strongly correlated with allergies. Thyroid disease was found to coexist with dyslipidemia and arthritis, along with having a strong correlation to depression. Age-appropriate preventive measures can help reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.30 no.2 s.57
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• pp.428-436
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• 1997

Objectives : The purpose of this paper is to estimate the completeness of the Korean Medical Insurance Data in childhood asthma. Methods : Capture-recapture method was used to estimate the prevalence of childhood asthma and case ascertainment rate(completeness) of Korean Medical Insurance Data using two source model, 'Korean Medical Insurance Committee Data (KMICD)' and 'Nationwide Study of Asthma and Allergies in Korean Children'. The asthma cases were restricted to those who were born from 1981 to 1989 and were identified by their Resident Register Number. Asthma cases in Korean Medical Insurance Data were defined as cases coded by ICD-9 493 and ICD-10 J45. In 'Nationwide Study of Asthma and Allergies in Korean Children', asthma cases were defined as the children who had been diagnosed asthma and had experienced symptoms of asthma during the past 12 months. The defined cases in two data sources were matched by 13 digits Resident Register Number. The numbers of matched patients in two data sources were 245 of 32,825 eligible total subjects. Chapman and Wittes' nearly unbiased estimation was used for capture-recapture analysis of two data sources. Results : Observed prevalence rate of childhood asthma was 5.3% and estimated prevalence rate by capture-recapture analysis was 11.6%. The highest prevalence rate was observed in 6-7 age group and the older the rate decreased. The completeness (the proportion of cases ascertained by KMICD to the total observed cases by two data sources) was 20.6%, and ranged form 10.8% to 28.8% by area. Conclusions : Invalid diagnosis of cases might overestimate the prevalence of child-hood asthma and might underestimate the completeness of Korean Medical Insurance Committee Data in this study.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.133-150
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• 2021

Purpose: The epidemiologic understanding of allergic diseases, including prevalence and risk factors, is needed for allergy management. This study identified the prevalence of and coping patterns for various types of allergies, such as asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR), atopic dermatitis (AD), allergic conjunctivitis (AC), food allergy (FA), and drug allergy (DA), in Nam-gu, Ulsan, one of the most industrialized districts in Korea. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using a self-report multiple choice questionnaire. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and other measures were reviewed to develop the questionnaire. Data was collected from May 9th to November 30th of 2018. Descriptive and frequency analyses were performed to apprehend the prevalence of symptoms, diagnostic rates, diagnosis dates, treatment history, and others. Results: By randomized sampling, 9,102 children from 25 nurseries, 25 kindergartens, and 15 elementary schools participated in the study. The prevalence of asthma, AR, AD, AC, FA, and DA were 11.1%, 48.7%, 15.5%, 17.6%, 15.1%, and 2.0%, respectively. The respective rate of ever being diagnosed with asthma, AR, AD, AC, FA, and DA were 4.2%, 38.4%, 25.5%, 23.3%, 9.7%, and 1.1%, respectively. Last year's allergy related school absenteeism rates were 10.8%, 4.1%, and 1.3% for asthma, AR, and AD, respectively. Lastly, 59.2% of the participants considered air pollution as the most challenging factor in allergy management. Conclusion: This study comprehensively investigated the current state of various allergic diseases in Nam-gu, Ulsan. The study's findings are expected to be applied to strategies for decreasing the socioeconomic burden of allergic diseases.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.238-242
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• 2001

Food allergy is a disease caused by an abnormal immunological reaction to specific food proteins. Whole milk and soy beans are the most frequent causes of food allergy, some studies show that 2.2~2.8% of children aged between 1 and 2 year are allergic to milk. It can be classified to acute (urticaria, asthma, anaphylaxis) or chronic (diarrhea, atopic dermatitis) allergy according to clinical symptoms, or to IgE related or non IgE related allergy by an immunological aspect. Generally, allergies invading only the GI tract are mostly due to a non IgE related reaction. These hypersensitive, immunologic reactions of the GI tract, not related to specific IgE for food, present themselves in many ways such as food protein-induced enteropathy, food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES), celiac disease, food induced protocolitis, or allergic eosinophillic gastroenteritis. FPIES is one kind of non IgE related allergic reaction and is manifested as severe vomiting and diarrhea in infants between 1 week and 3 months. We report a case of FPIES in a 40-day old male infant presenting with 3 times of repeated events of watery diarrhea after cow's milk feeding.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.198-203
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• 2017

Eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorder (EGID) is a rare disease in children that affects the bowel wall, with eosinophilic infiltration in the absence of any other causes for eosinophilia. The etiology remains unknown, but allergies and immunological imbalance are suspected triggers. We encountered a case of serosal EGID presenting as intractable vomiting and ascites in a 9-year-old girl, after influenza virus infection. Peripheral eosinophilia was not present. The diagnosis was confirmed by biopsy of the bowel wall through laparotomy and endoscopy, and controlled by 2 courses of steroid therapy due to recurring symptoms. Influenza virus infection was assumed to play a role in the onset of EGID through a Th2 response that stimulated eosinophilic infiltration in the GI tract. We therefore report this case along with a literature review.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.10-19
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• 2004

The purpose of this research is to reveal the antimicrobial activity of pet-dog clothes by investigating the bacteria resistance of 4 kinds of pet-dog clothes materials. 1. Investigation Results of Pet-Dog Clothes 64.7% of 150 survey participants, revealed they had pet-dog clothes. Hand laundering was 67.0%, while the laundering of both human and animal clothes was 9.2%. The greatest washing frequency was once every 2 weeks. So, the subjects didn't seem to think high of hygienic matters. Even though no if any relations were reported by 34.7% of the subjects, there were some experiences like sneezing or coughing (41.3%), slight itching (20.7%), and acute skin allergies. There were such hugging methods as heart to heart to the center (22.7%), face to face and around the mouth (16.7%), and below the heart with the dog's face outward (15.3%). Thus, hugging the dog near the pet-lover's face seems to be the cause of respiratory diseases including sneezes and coughs. 2. Results of the Anti-Bacteria Experiment of Pet-Dog Clothes Materials According to the analysis of the germs collected and cultured in this study to reveal the properness of pet-dog clothes materials, they were bacteria or bacilli in shapes. Spore growth was active in the order of such experimental materials as artificial leather > cotton > cotton/ nylon > polyester (finest thread). In terms of germ groups, the order was polyester(finest thread) > cotton > cotton/ nylon > artificial leather.