Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin, USA, have shown in mice that a gastroenteritis infection is enough to alter the cells of the gut to induce a food allergic response. The team at Wisconsin, led by Dr Mitchell H Grayson, associate professor of paediatrics, medicine, microbiology and molecular genetics at the Medical College, have shown in a previous study an IgE response to inhaled protein during respiratory infection. That study suggests that early respiratory infections could lead to allergic diseases late in childhood. This study suggests that an IgE response to a gastrointestinal virus could signify a likelihood of developing a food allergy after the viral infection.

Source: The Open Immunology Journal

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