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170

GEOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN ALLERGY AMONG TRANSPLANT PATIENTS

KJ Khan, MA Levstik
Division of Gastroenterology, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario

Allergic reactions are common in medical practice. Given the difficulty of comparing allergy prevalence among populations, little is known about allergy rates in different geographic areas. Knowledge of allergies is vital in limiting adverse outcomes in transplant patients, where anaphylactic allergy transference via organs is a serious concern and is well described in the literature.
SETTING: In 2005, London, Ontario hosted over 800 athletes from around the world in the 15^th World Transplant Games. This provided us with the unique opportunity to explore the relationship between geography and allergy in a patient population with extensive medical care and follow-up; transplant patients.
METHODS: Our a priori hypothesis was that continents with higher immigrated populations would have higher allergy rates. The medical records of 854 athletes participating in the World Transplant Games were analyzed and allergy data extracted from 847/854 (99.2%). The allergy prevalence (to both drug and environmental) was calculated for each continent.
RESULTS: There were 847 athletes from 45 countries in 6 continents. The transplanted organs included kidney (63%), heart (14%), liver (13%), and other (10%). The athletes originated from Africa (3.4%), Asia (6.3%), Australia (6.3%), Europe (54.2%), N America (28.9%) and S America (0.9%). The allergy prevalence was as 3.5% in Africans, 0% in Asians, 18.8% in Australians, 8.1% in Europeans, 31.8% in N Americans, and 12.5% in S Americans.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that allergy rates in a unique subset of population (World Transplant Games athletes) were highest in N America and Australia. These results support our a priori hypothesis suggesting that countries with higher migrated populations may develop allergies secondary to new antigenic exposure. Further research is needed to confirm these observations.

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