Peanut is most prevalent culprit in anaphylaxis PICU admits

Peanuts accounted for 45% of the food triggers, followed by tree nuts and seeds at 19%, and milk at 10%.

Common causes aside from food included drug, blood products, and venom, Dr. Davis said.

Anaphylaxis accounted for 0.3% of all PICU admissions over the 5-year period, researchers found. Dr. Davis said this was “higher than what we anticipated.”

The overall mortality rate was 1%, and researchers found that peanuts and dairy were main causes of death of all the food-induced cases.

Anaphylaxis occurred more often in children ages 6-18 years than in kids of other ages and was least common among those aged 2-5 years. Asian children were disproportionately represented among the PICU anaphylaxis patients, but the mortality rate didn’t vary by any demographic factors.