Egg Allergy: What You Should Know About It

The egg allergy is one of the most common food allergies in children. Here you can find out the causes, the symptoms and what can help.

What is egg allergy?

In the case of an egg allergy (actually: hen’s egg allergy), those affected react with symptoms such as nausea or stomach pain to the consumption of hen’s eggs. After milk allergy, egg allergy is the most common food allergy – children are primarily affected. Chicken allergy often occurs in children during the first two years of life and disappears on its own as they grow older.

According to scientific studies, about 0.2 percent of the entire European population suffer from an allergy to chicken eggs. In children, chicken allergy disappears with a probability of between 50 and 80 percent at school age. It is possible that the allergy to eggs develops in adults, but this is rare.

Allergens: Why do chicken eggs trigger allergic reactions?

Responsible for the allergic reactions are mainly the allergens ovomucoid and ovalbumin. The following differences exist with these allergens:

• Ovomucoid: Ovomucoid is mainly found in egg yolk, but in small amounts also in egg white and is the main cause of allergy to chicken eggs. Since it cannot be decomposed by heat or acid, it causes symptoms of allergy in both raw and cooked hen’s eggs.
• Ovalbuim: This is the protein most commonly found in hen’s eggs in terms of quantity – more precisely, in the egg white. Ovalbuim is broken down during cooking, which means that it is only contained in raw hen’s eggs.

In some cases, however, allergy sufferers also react to the enzyme lysozyme contained in chicken eggs.

Since chicken eggs are used as a binding agent in many processed foods, allergy sufferers should always study the packaging of e.g. finished products carefully. There are also vaccines that are produced on the basis of hen’s eggs. Before a vaccination, the doctor should therefore be explicitly asked about it.

Symptoms of egg allergy

An allergy to chicken eggs can lead to various complaints, especially in the gastrointestinal tract. But other allergy-typical symptoms are also possible. These include:

• Nausea
• Abdominal pain
• Flatulence
• Vomiting
• Skin rash (e.g. redness or wheals) up to neurodermatitis
• Itching

In the worst case, breathing difficulties are possible, which can lead to so-called anaphylactic shock. This is life-threatening – therefore, in case of respiratory distress, the emergency doctor should be called immediately!

What helps with a chicken egg allergy?

With all food allergies, the easiest way to avoid the allergen is to make sure that you avoid it in your diet, so in this case you should not consume eggs. However, this also means that hen’s eggs fail as a source of protein – and our body needs a lot of protein to function. Alternatively, proteins can be taken in through dairy products or meat, for example. A nutritionist can help prevent a deficiency.

Anyone who reacts extremely strongly to small amounts of chicken eggs should always carry an emergency kit with them to be protected in case of anaphylactic shock. Otherwise, after accidentally eating chicken eggs, it is important to pay close attention to the symptoms and react accordingly.