Anisakis Allergy
The 
Anisakis simplex is a worm that parasitizes sea mammals (whales and dolphins): its larvae is food for fish and cephalopods (octopus and squids).
Man can get into the Anisakis chain accidentally after eating fish of cephalopods contaminated with the larva.
[quote align=»center» color=»blue»]Anisakis may cause urticaria in areas where fish is heavily consumed
After eating the raw or undercooked fish, the alive larva reach the human stomach or gut.
It is comonest to get rid of the larva with no consequences. Nonetheless they may get hooked to the gut walls and make acute abdominal symptoms. This is known as anisakiasis or anisakidosis.
It may also produce allergy symptoms, mainly hives or skin swelling, sometimes with digestive signs.
Anisakis in Málaga
Dr.Salvador Fernández Meléndez, allergist at Malaga Hospital regional universitario Carlos Haya investigated this problem in his doctoral thesis «Anisakis simplex sensitization in Malaga«.
During a whole year he collected samples of different fish species (ante un año recogió muestras de distintos pescados (blue whiting , anchovy, horse mackerel, sardine, etc) at several Malaga markets, studiying the worm content of the samples.
Anisakis was found in one out of three analyzed fish. Most frequently parasitized species were blue whiting (75%), monkfish (71%) and hake (52%).
The species with the highest number of worms was mackerel, with 11 worms in each specimen.
He also studied patients with acute hives: almost 20% had skin allergy tests positive to Anisakis.
