FIG. 3.

Attributions of anaphylaxis before and after screening for anti-Anisakis simplex responses. Adult patients studied in the Allergy Department of the Santiago Apóstol Hospital (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, northern Spain). Cases of anaphylaxis (n = 625) were reviewed during six consecutive years (1994 to 1999). Allergic diagnoses of those cases were as follows: drug (n = 389), hymenoptera venom (n = 88), food (n = 67), parasites (n = 62), idiopathic (n = 32), and latex (n = 12). Note that the incidence of A. simplex allergy is similar to that of all food allergies combined (10%) and idiopathic causes are reduced from 14% (before A. simplex screening) to 4% when this parasite is considered. (Based on data from reference 27.)