Effect of Food Allergy among Patients Affected by Delta and Omicron Variants-A Case Study

Abstract

Swapan Banerjee, Saiya Pal and Pallab Bera

Background: The variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been affecting people globally since 2020. The Delta variant, mainly in India and the omicron variant in multiple countries since Nov 2021, has infected millions of people; many died out of them. Amongst all factors, food allergy is one factor that also accelerates many infected people’s comorbidities and overall health status during the pandemic. Aims: The study aimed to assess the role of some common food allergies in Delta and Omicron infected people in the Indian population. Methods: The study was designed with 50 covid positive home-isolated patients (out of 62) infected by both the mentioned variants from April 2021 until 15th January 2022. However, they were not severely ill but had comorbidities such as diabetes, obesity, hepatomegaly, etc. After the negative test result, each participant was requested to attend a telephonic interview for 15 minutes. Further, they were offered free online diet consultation considering the fatigue and some allergic symptoms. ATLAS-Ti-9 software was used for the fundamental analysis. Results: Based on their self-referred serological allergy test (SAT), we found that 23 samples of milk (46%), 14 (28%) samples of citrus fruits, 12 (24%) patients were allergic due to mustard oil and other detections too based on the positive interpretation (+ to +++) of specific IgE (IU/ml). The patients were facing type-1 hypersensitivity but no other severe allergic issues. Conclusions: Food allergy accelerated respiratory syndromes and comorbidities, mainly among the infected (Delta and Omicron) patients who could also have a high chance of hypersensitivity due to some common ingesting allergens.

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