PEACH ALLERGY PATTERN - EXPERIENCE IN 70 PATIENTS

We report the clinical characteristics of peach allergy encountered in a population of peach-allergic patients. We evaluated 165 patients, T he 70 peach-allergic patients were diagnosed through clinical history, the skin prick-prick test. and open oral challenge and rub tests to p each, As a pollinic control group. 95 pollen-allergic patients were al so evaluated, Some 49% of the patients were male and 51% female. The m ean age was 20 +/- 8 years, Oral allergy syndrome (86%) was the most c ommon symptom, followed by contact urticaria (61%) and systemic sympto ms (26%). Some 67% of the patients were allergic to peach pulp. and 36 % reported symptoms related to canned peach. Canned peach and pulp sym ptoms were statistically associated (P < 0.01). and symptoms to canned peach were more frequently reported by patients with systemic symptom s (P < 0.05). On evaluation of the peach-allergic patients' characteri stics. three risk factors-allergy to peach pulp allergy to canned peac h, and peach allergy in non-pollen-allergic patients - were found, ind icating development of systemic symptoms on eating peach. Most of the peach-allergic patients (81%) also had pollen allergy which was linked to a higher prevalence of asthma (73%) than in the pollen-allergic pa tients of the control group (48%): this difference was statistically s ignificant (P < 0.01). Finally, two groups were clearly defined by the seriousness of the peach allergy - the non-pollen-allergic patients w ere more predisposed to the occurrence of systemic symptoms (> 50%), a nd the pollen-allergic patients to asthma (> 70%).