The number of American children who suffer from food and skin allergies has increased dramatically in recent years, a new government report shows. The report also found a significant increase among children who reside in the country’s wealthiest families.

The report by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) on children up to age 17, based on answers from the National Health Interview found; Skin allergies such as eczema have risen the most over the past decade, going from a prevalence of 7.4 per cent in 1997-1999 to 12.5 per cent in 2009-2011.

Food allergies also rose from 3.4 per cent to 5.1 per cent over that time span. Rates of respiratory allergy, such as hay fever, stayed about the same and continued to be the most common childhood allergy (17 per cent). Children living in families that made more than 200 percent of the poverty level had the highest rates, the statistics showed.

“The prevalence of food and skin allergies both increased over the past 14 years,” said report co-author LaJeana Howie “This has been a consistent trend.”

A new Australian study has found babies with low vitamin D levels are more likely to have food allergies.

In a study of 5000 children, researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne found that one-year-olds with vitamin D deficiency were three times more likely to have a food allergy than those whose levels were sufficient.

The study found the link was only evident for low vitamin D babies with Australian-born parents, leading researchers to speculate that the link may relate to skin colour, genetic or environmental reasons.

The findings are compatible with existing research that indicates the further from the equator, the more cases of food allergies.

Researchers at the University of Valencia’s Institute of Materials Science are developing a system based on photonic biosensors for the rapid diagnosis of food allergies.

The project titled POSITIVE  aims to make a low-cost instrument that performs an analysis on a single drop of blood in fifteen minutes potentially for hundreds of foods simultaneously and without risk to patients.

“Currently, the most common allergy tests are expensive tests and especially traumatic for children, as well as pose a risk of adverse reactions,” says Daniel Hill, project coordinator  “Beyond the project, the idea is to be able to put a food allergy diagnostic instrument that is fast, effective and safe in the surgery of every paediatrician, so that they can test during the first few years of life”.

The device is expected to be finished by February and clinical trials will commence in Germany from June.

A new study, among the first to evaluate sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) as a peanut allergy treatment found the method can reduce the allergic response to peanut in adolescents and adults

Sublingual Immunotherapy, the practice of treating food allergies without injection by slowly building up a tolerance by placing tiny amounts of the allergen under a patient’s tongue to decrease their sensitivity to it.

The National Institutes of Health supported study of 40 participants aged 12 to 37 revealed 70 percent of candidates undergoing sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) were able to consume at least ten times more peanut powder after 44 weeks of treatment.

Although the results are promising researchers say more work is needed.

Please be advised: SLIT should only ever be administered under medical guidance.

As food allergies become increasingly common, a new study offers proof that they may be linked to pesticides found in tap water.

Researchers at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology used existing government data and found High levels of dichlorophenols, a chemical used in pesticides and to chlorinate water, when found in the human body, are associated with food allergies.

Our research shows that high levels of dichlorophenol-containing pesticides can possibly weaken food tolerance  in some people, causing food allergy,” said allergist Elina Jerschow, M.D., M.Sc, . ACAAI fellow and lead study  author. “This chemical is commonly found in pesticides used by farmers and consumer insect and weed control products, as well as tap water.”

“Previous studies have shown that both food allergies and environmental pollution are increasing in the U.S.,” said Dr. Jerschow. “The results of our study suggest these two trends might be linked, and that increased use of pesticides and other chemicals is associated with a higher prevalence of food allergies.”

Researchers have learned how a man-made molecule destroys complexes that induce allergic responses — a discovery that could lead to the development of highly potent, rapidly acting interventions for a host of acute allergic reactions.

The study, was led by scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and t University of Bern, Switzerland.

The new inhibitor disarms IgE antibodies, pivotal players in acute allergies, by detaching the antibody from its partner in crime, a molecule called FcR. (Other mechanisms lead to slower-developing allergic reactions.)

“It would be an incredible intervention if you could rapidly disconnect IgE antibodies in the midst of an acute allergic response,” said Ted Jardetzky, PhD, professor of structural biology and senior investigator for the study. It turns out the inhibitor used by the team does just that.

A myriad of allergens, ranging from ragweed pollen to bee venom to peanuts, can set off IgE antibodies, resulting in allergic reactions within seconds. The new inhibitor destroys the complex that tethers IgE to the cells responsible for the reaction, called mast cells. Severing this connection would be the holy grail of IgE-targeted allergy treatment.

A Los Gatos family in the U.S. is claiming their 9-year-old and 7-year old daughters were asked to leave their  elementary school because of their severe nut allergies.

Shuly and Joe Edwards whose daughters have severe life threatening allergies claim their  requests to have the school provide nut-free classrooms and  send letters to the other parents warning them that the girl’s suffer from these allergies was the reason behind the schools decision to ask them to leave.