Allergen Ara h1 is a storage seed protein from Arachis hypogaea, and it is one of the major components of peanut allergens. Peanut allergy is the most common type of food allergy that affects 4-8% of children and 1-2% of adults (1-2). It tends to present early in life, it does not usually resolve, and in highly sensitized people trace quantities can induce an allergic reaction (3).
1. Bock SA. Prospective appraisal of complaints of adverse reactions to foods in children during the first 3 years of life. Pediatrics 1987;79(5):683-8.
2. Jansen JJ, Kardinaal AF, Huijbers G, Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Martens BP, Ockhuizen T. Prevalence of food allergy and intolerance in the adult Dutch population. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1994;93(2):446-56.
3. Simons FER, Chad ZH, Gold M. Real-time reporting of anaphylaxis in infants, children, and adolescents by physician involved in the Canadian Pediatric Surveillance Program [abstract 536]. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2002;109(1 Pt 2): S181.