Hazelnut low-dose oral food challenge in children
What it found
In 43 children with hazelnut allergy, a low-dose oral food challenge was completed by 28, and 20 had no reactions.
Most reactions were mild, like oral allergy syndrome.
What they found
Studies in people
Challenge completion
Out of 43 children who did the low-dose challenge, 28 reached the total dose of 2.5 grams of hazelnut.
Reactions during challenge
During the challenge, 20 of the 43 children had no reactions. The other 23 children had a total of 55 reactions.
Types of reactions
The most common reaction was oral allergy syndrome, seen 34 times. Other reactions included rash (8 times), abdominal pain (6 times), urticaria (2 times), angioedema (2 times), and dyspnea (3 times).
Atopic dermatitis link
Children who had symptoms during the challenge were more likely to have atopic dermatitis than those without symptoms. This was the only difference that was statistically significant.
What the authors conclude
“Our study suggests that in children with HA, H-LDOFC is well accepted and safe because adverse reactions are mild and the majority are represented by localized symptoms (oral allergy syndrome) and efficient, especially in terms of improvement of quality of life.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say that in children with hazelnut allergy, the low-dose oral food challenge is well accepted and safe because adverse reactions are mild and mostly localized symptoms like oral allergy syndrome.
- They also say it is efficient, especially for improving quality of life.
- They suggest it could be used more widely in the treatment of hazelnut allergy.
How it was done
The authors wanted to see how well a low-dose hazelnut food challenge worked and how well it was tolerated in children with hazelnut allergy.
They looked back at the charts of 70 children with a history of hazelnut allergy seen at a hospital in Florence, Italy, from January 2015 to December 2016. They offered a low-dose oral food challenge to the parents, and 43 children took it. The challenge was considered complete when a total of 2.5 grams of hazelnut was eaten.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a retrospective study, so it can show links but not prove cause and effect.
- The study did not compare the challenge to a placebo or another method, so it cannot show how it compares to other approaches.
- The results are from one hospital in Italy and may not apply to all children with hazelnut allergy.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of Florence, Florence; University of Florence, Italy; University of L'Aquila, Italy
The paper
- Title
- Low-Dose Oral Food Challenge with Hazelnut: Efficacy and Tolerability in Children
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Barni S, Mori F, Piccorossi A, et al (2019). Low-Dose Oral Food Challenge with Hazelnut: Efficacy and Tolerability in Children. International archives of allergy and immunology. doi:10.1159/000493019Free full textPubMed 30261506DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error