"How Can You Tell If A Peanut Allergy Reaction Is A Severe Allergy Or Just Part of OAS?" - Dr. Scott Sicherer
Some people with birch pollen allergy experience mouth symptoms with specific raw fruits and vegetables. This is because those foods contain proteins that are very similar to the protein in the pollen. Usually, the symptoms are mild and localized to the mouth. Scott Sicherer, MD, professor of pediatrics, allergy and immunology, and chief of the division of allergy and immunology at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said, “Peanut as well has this birch related-protein. In the form of peanut butter or roasted peanut, it is presumably heated well enough to also substantially inactivate this protein.” In a study of a group of children who were shown through blood testing to only be sensitive to the birch pollen-related protein in the peanut, about one in four experience some mouth itching at the start of a feeding test to peanut.
- Scott Sicherer, MD, Professor, Pediatrics, Allergy and Immunology, Chief, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai