You may recall having a friend with some type of nut allergy or perhaps a bad reaction to shellfish — but believe it or not, egg allergy is actually considered to be the second most common type of food allergy in the world. It is believed that up to 2.5% of all children globally currently suffer from an egg intolerance.
What is an egg allergy?
An allergy is a term used to describe a phenomenon in which our own body attacks itself because of a severely exaggerated immune response.
Different factors in our immune system patrol around our blood, looking for foreign particles that could harm our organism. These factors are called immunoglobulins. An immunoglobulin is designed to be able to tell the difference between foreign and native particles, as well as dangerous or safe particles. In some circumstances, like with food allergies, the response will be significantly exaggerated.
Does an egg allergy mean you can’t eat any type of eggs?
As we dive deeper into what exactly an egg allergy is, it is worth noting people can actually become allergic to five different types of proteins within an egg. The most common type of egg protein people have allergic reactions to would be that found in the egg whites of raw eggs.
Patients who report having allergies to eggs are generally referring to chicken (hen) eggs, but in more severe forms of the allergy, it has been reported that patients were also intolerant to eggs from geese, ducks, turkeys, and quails. The kinds of eggs someone has allergic reactions to will vary from case to case, so being allergic to chicken eggs does not necessarily mean you will not be able to enjoy eggs from other types of poultry.
What are the symptoms of an egg allergy?
An allergic reaction to eggs would mean our own body’s immune system launches an attack against when we eat eggs. Some of the most common manifestations of this type of reaction would be skin rashes or reddening after eating foods we are allergic to. In more severe cases, symptoms can become more pronounced and also lead to respiratory or gastrointestinal problems. Children may report problems with breathing or may have nausea or acute diarrhea after eating eggs.
Interestingly enough, children who develop asthma later on in life also have higher rates of egg allergies. A reason for this could be that the same immunoglobulin associated with asthma exacerbation is responsible for egg allergies. If you suffered through childhood asthma, it may be hard for you to remember if you had any issues eating eggs but doctors are now more aware of this connection and can screen children who have egg allergies more often to catch asthma before a potential flare-up appears.
How is an egg allergy diagnosed?
Diagnosing any type of allergy can happen in one of two ways.
The first and potentially more serious would be a reaction that occurs after eating a food you did not realize you were allergic to. If you have mild symptoms, there is a good chance that you may only have a skin rash or upset stomach after eating something, but if you do have a more severe response, the nearest Emergency Room may be your final destination.
The second and more controlled way of discovering that you have a food allergy would be achieved through skin testing or food challenge testing.
To do this type of testing, patients with a suspected food allergy would come to the allergologist and receive small injections of food preparations just under the skin. If a patient is allergic to the food, they will likely have a large red mark that will appear where the extract was injected, signifying an immune response.
Because this allergy testing is carried out in a controlled setting, it is obviously the more desirable method of diagnosing any type of food allergy. In most cases, though, patients will only be referred to this department if they have already been found to have one type of food allergy discovered after consuming a food, or if they have a family history of food allergies.
A food challenge test would be similar but children would be given small amounts of egg to eat and then a blood test will be done to check for the immunoglobulin responsible for the reaction: IgE. If levels of this compound are high, an allergy to eggs will be confirmed.
Should people with egg allergies be worried about egg-based vaccines?
Many vaccinations on the market contain egg proteins to help stabilize the preparations found in the vials. These egg proteins are not an active ingredient but in someone suffering from an egg allergy, it can be a cause for concern. Thankfully, multiple institutions have addressed this concern in the form of using research studies.
In one recent study, only 10 children out of over 7 million vaccinated against influenza (the flu), experienced anaphylaxis after the shot. That equates to approximately 1.5 children out of a million that had a reaction. The rate was slightly higher in children who received a vaccination against the H1N1 bird flu but this was only about 2 per 1 million children.
As you can see, even with a potential egg allergy, it is usually still safe to receive a normal vaccination. There are a few alternative preparations on the market now that severely limit the presence of egg protein found in the vaccination so ask your doctor if that is a viable option in your region if you still have concerns about this vaccination.
How can you manage your egg allergy?
When it comes to the management of a diagnosed egg allergy, some doctors may be quick to suggest avoiding eggs altogether. Just avoiding the food may be easy in the case of food allergies like shellfish or peanuts, but considering eggs are a staple ingredient of most products that we consume, that is not a realistic solution.
If you are a concerned parent, hopefully this will bring you some relief. Most children diagnosed with an egg allergy will outgrow it as they age. In one study, about 50 percent of children with an egg allergy will be symptom-free by the age of 4. In those children who are not able to overcome the allergen on their own, doctors often recommend a gradual “egg-challenge” for patients. What this means is trying to systemically increase the servings of eggs per day in order to help the child develop of tolerance for the food.
In the meantime, studies also show that heating eggs to high temperatures, such as during the boiling process, can reduce the number of symptoms that a child may experience because the protein that causes the allergy will become inactive after being heated.
If all else fails, and your child still has a serious egg allergy, it is a good idea to ask your doctor for a prescription for an epinephrine pen as a prophylactic “magic bullet.” This can be used during a severe anaphylactic reaction to help keep the child breathing and heart rate up before they will be transported to the hospital. In reality, this may only apply to a few people on the globe at this moment so in all likelihood, your child will be able to live a completely normal life even with an early egg allergy.
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