Food allergies are linked to lower COVID-19 risk, finds study

02 Jun 2022 --- A US study suggests that people with physician-diagnosed food allergies are less likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Without easy access to ACE2, the virus has a limited ability to infect individuals with food allergies.

“Differences in risk behaviors among people with food allergy, such as eating out at restaurants less often, also could explain the lower infection risk for this group,” highlights the study.

However, the scientists also affirm that there is no real difference in community exposure in families with members with food allergies, which strengthens the ACE2 receptor theory.

Obesity linked to infection risks
The study also reveals that people with obesity and a high body mass index (BMI) have an associated increased risk of contracting COVID-19.

“Participants who were overweight or obese had a 41% greater risk of infection than those who were not,” notes the study.

The scientists also flag that more research is needed to explain this particular finding.

Previously, as their own study mentions, obesity and high BMI were found to be serious risk factors leading to severe COVID-19 cases.

 Obese people have an associated increased risk of contracting COVID-19.Furthermore, the risk of death from the disease was found to be tenfold in countries where over half the population is classified as overweight, according to The World Obesity Federation.

A Swedish investigation uncovered the connection of severe COVID-19 to adults who had high BMI as older teenagers, being true even for the higher range inside the healthy BMI category (22.5-25 BMI). Additionally, a Russian study flagged that obesity independently worsens disease prognosis by at least six times.

In 2020 the UK-based Obesity Health Alliance (OHA) highlighted how consumers were calling for a government plan to have a war on obesity, as patients with morbid obesity were found to be overrepresented by 265% in intensive care units (7.7% compared to the 2.9% of the general population).

Study methodology, blood sampling
During the study, periodic blood samples were taken from participants.

“The study team analyzed the levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-specific antibodies, which play a key role in allergic disease, in blood collected from a subset of participants.”

The research team monitored 4,000 people from 1,400 households that included at least one person under 21 years of age. The study was conducted before widespread vaccines were available and before “the widespread emergence of variants of concern.”

Half of the participants of all ages had a self-reported food allergy, asthma, eczema, or allergic rhinitis.

Nasal swabs were taken every two weeks, along with weekly surveys.

Another study, this time by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), found in 2021 that people with food allergy, eczema and asthma were not more likely to have severe virus cases.

The US study also found that children under 12 years are just as likely to become infected by the virus as adults, but 75% of the infections are asymptomatic. Moreover, asthma does not contribute to higher risks of developing the disease.

 “Infections were asymptomatic in 75% of children, 59% of teenagers and 38% of adults,” says the study.

By Marc Cervera