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Scientists may soon unravel solution to seafood allergies
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Friday, 18 March, 2011, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
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Seafood allergies, which affect millions of children around the world, have long remained the ignored kid of researchers across the world. Not many know that up to 50% of Asian children react badly to seafood and that only a handful researchers are working in the area.
However, with a new study being carried out by researcher Dr Andreas Lopata of James Cook University, this area is likely to unravel some facts and myths about one of the most sought after delicacies across the world.
Dr Lopata's expertise includes food allergies that occur after consuming food or while cooking or handling food. However, seafood is the focus of his work.
"Once people develop seafood allergies, they will not grow out of it," he said. "It's not like milk or egg, where children can develop allergies which can disappear. With fish or shellfish, you have the allergy for life. However, we are working on narrowing down which species may be more prone to spark a reaction in the more susceptible ones."
The research shows seafood allergic reactions are as common as peanut allergy, if not more so, yet peanut research is dominant.
The rate of allergic reactions depended on eating habits. In Australia, the incidence in children is very low compared with Asia - Thailand, Singapore, China and Japan. That's because these communities eat much more seafood from the early childhood. "However, we will see much more allergens among Australians in future, as the migrant population from these countries increases."
Dr Lopata said there was no straightforward answer yet as to why people were, or became, allergic to food or in particular seafood.
"There are two components, or causes. First, people can have a genetic pre-disposition to an allergy. If one parent is allergic, there is a 30% chance the kids will be allergic too. If both parents are allergic, it rises to a 70% chance their child will have an allergy. Second, environmental factors also trigger a pre-disposition, such as household mite exposure."
There is an evidence to suggest that those who are allergic to household mites also display a hypersensitivity to shellfish.
"Around 98% of people do not and never will react to seafood protein, but those who do will be part of our research, to help develop vaccines in future."
Dr Lopata's research team will be taking advantage of the plethora of seafood species in northern Queensland. The work will include travelling on the Reef, collecting different species of fish, and shellfish and bringing them back to the lab and cooking them.
"That's what other studies lack -- species variety. However, we have here in the Tropics thousands of shellfish species. The challenge is to find the right diagnostics to pick up all these allergies."
He said his team would also be working with the Townsville Hospital on developing early identification of allergic reactions in patients. The immunological mechanism for future vaccines and therapy would be developed in the Comparative Genomic Centre as part of the Queensland Tropical Health Alliance. "It all starts with a good diagnosis."
The worst thing would be for people who have had a reaction is to stay away from seafood altogether because they're afraid of another bad reaction. Says Hasan M, a communication student, "I have been diagonised as allergic to sea-food from my childhood. Abstention is the only prescription as suggested to me. However, I am glad some work is being done in this area."
According to Dr Lopata, it is a healthy food and people may not be allergic at all or only be allergic to one particular type of fish or shellfish and can continue enjoying the rest.
Dr Lopata, who is a senior lecturer, recently joined the JCU in the discipline of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the RMIT University in Melbourne.
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