The incidence of diagnosed peanut allergy in Australian children has risen dramatically over the last decade, new figures from the ACT suggest.

In a review of 778 patients diagnosed at community-based specialist allergy practices in Canberra, researchers from the ANU medical school found that the number of children aged up to six diagnosed with peanut allergy and peanut anaphylaxis increased from six and three per year in 1995 to 51 and 20 per year in 2007.

Reporting their findings at the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy meeting in Melbourne last week, they said the clinical features of peanut allergy and age of onset did not appear to have changed over time, but later age of onset was associated with greater risk of anaphylaxis.

Other research presented at the conference suggested that antenatal peanut consumption does not contribute to peanut sensitisation in the offspring. In fact, a study of more than 300 women found that peanut ingestion during pregnancy actually had a strong protective effect against sensitisation in women with no family history of asthma.

Lead study author Dr Andrew Kemp form the Children’s Hospital at Westmead Hospital in Sydney said there was a tendency to increased sensitization in those with a family history of asthma.