Allergy to peanuts and tree nuts is one of the most serious food allergies affecting children in English-speaking westernised countries like the USA, UK and Australia. The prevalence of peanut allergy (PA) in these regions is as high as 1-3% and is possibly increasing whereas it appears to be uncommon in developing communities in Africa and Asia (1-3). In both these high and low prevalence regions however differences of peanut sensitisation among various ethnic groups in the same geographical areas have been reported, with higher prevalences in immigrant ethnic minorities in the developed communities (4,5).
