NEW ORLEANS-The mere scent of cooking shrimp can roil someone allergic to crustacea.
A team at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit has found two shrimp allergens in a whiff of cooking steam, enough to stimulate the IgE of sensitive individuals.
Analyzing a distillate made from steam captured during the cooking of shrimp with sera from 10 patients with shrimp allergy, the team found that there was binding of IgE to the allergens present in the distillate, Dr. Salvador Figueroa told the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology meeting here. The allergens, he concludes, are heat-resistant.
In another report, the steam of boiling hot dogs containing chicken led to an asthmatic attack in a fowl-sensitive 9-year-old, Dr. Ravinder Polasani of SUNY Buffalo told the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology meeting in Dallas. -Charles D. Bankhead
