Allergy Care - Egg Allergy

Egg allergy usually begins in infancy, and often soon after egg is introduced into a baby's diet. Children who are egg allergic will often refuse egg when it is given to them.

Egg allergy often disappears by age five to seven years, but can sometimes be lifelong. Egg white, especially if it is raw or poorly cooked tends to cause a more severe allergy than egg yolk. Mildly egg allergic children can often eat food prepared with small amounts of egg, for example cakes, without an immediate reaction. But, these small amounts may aggravate conditions such as eczema, and can prolong the allergy.

Allergic reaction can happen within minutes of the egg being eaten but the onset of a reaction can be delayed for up to 2 - 4 hours. The more severe the allergy, the smaller the amount required to cause a reaction. Typical reactions to eating egg include a rash, redness around the mouth (which can spread to the rest of the body), runny nose, sneezing, itchy eyes, coughing, choking or gagging, difficulty breathing, and vomiting. But, life-threatening reactions, such as shock, dizziness, unconsciousness, difficulty in breathing, and swelling in the throat, require immediate medical care. This reaction is often referred to as anaphylaxis.

An anaphylactic shock needs to be treated immediately, usually with the use of an Epi-Pen (adrenaline) injected into the body. People who know they are allergic to eggs should carry an Epi-Pen. An Epi-Pen is only available on prescription from a doctor.

If you are allergic to eggs, you need to become a label watcher and scrutinise ingredients on packaging. When checking ingredients look out not only for descriptions containing the word 'egg' but also words such as globulin, ovomucin, silici albuminate, vitellin, livetin, ovomucoid, albumin, ovalbumin, ovovittelin, and ovamcin.

Many foods such as cakes, custard, mayonnaise, icing, salad dressing etc contain egg. However, cakes and desserts etc can still be eaten as long as they are homemade by substituting egg with egg replacer. Egg replacer can be purchased from some supermarkets and health food stores.

Also, some vaccinations are cultured on egg so it is advisable to seek medical advice as any vaccinations may have to be closely monitored for reactions.

Page updated: 2 May 2008