ScienceTechyNews: How scratching may prime children with eczema for food allergy and anaphylaxis

Eczema, a chronic itchy inflammatory skin disease, affects about 15 percent of U.S. children. It's a strong risk factor for food allergies -- more than half of children with eczema are allergic to one or more foods -- and most people with food allergy have eczema. But the connection between the two hasn't been clear. New research in a mouse model demonstrates, for the first time, that scratching the skin promotes allergic reactions to foods, including anaphylaxis.

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