The ADAPAR Birth Cohort Study: Food Allergy Results at Five Years and New Insights

Abstract

Background: Although food allergy (FA) is often a transient condition during childhood, when and in whom FA will resolve can be affected by many factors. In this study, we analyzed the data at 5 years on 33 children diagnosed with FA in the ADAPAR (Adana Pediatric Allergy Research) birth cohort study in southern Turkey. Methods: Thirty-three infants detected as having FA at the end of their first year in the ADAPAR study were assessed every 6 months until the age of 5 years. Each follow-up included a clinical examination, questionnaire, blood sampling and a skin-prick test. Results: Culprit allergens were cow's milk (n = 20), eggs (n = 17), chicken meat (n = 1) and bananas (n = 1). Of the 17 patients with egg allergy, 14 developed complete tolerance and 1 developed partial tolerance (i.e. tolerance to baked food). Of the 20 patients with milk allergy, complete tolerance was observed in 16 and partial tolerance in 1. The mean age of tolerance to egg was 22.4 ± 7.5 months and to cow's milk, it was 20.9 ± 1.1 months. Complete tolerance developed in 1 case allergic to chicken meat and in 1 case allergic to banana. Other allergic conditions were also determined: allergic rhinitis in 27.2%, atopic dermatitis in 21.2%, asthma in 9%, urticaria in 9% and drugs in 9%. Conclusions: Our results confirm early and high tolerance rates before school age in children with food allergies that started in infancy. This will help pediatricians to give more informed advice to parents of infants with cow's milk or hen's egg allergy.

Clinical and Laboratory Characteristics of Patients with Food Allergy: Single Center Experience

“…[12] In studies conducted in our country, Turkey, the findings showed that the prevalence of food allergy is 0.8% in 6-9 years in the Black Sea region and 2.4% in the first year of life in Adana. [13,14] Although the number of cases was limited in our study, the median age of the patients was first year of life. This result supports the studies on this subject.…”

Recent Advances in Clinical Allergy and Immunology

“…The risk of developing IgE sensitization to cow’s milk has been associated with the duration of breastfeeding and isolated doses of formula feeding in hospital, especially after caesarian delivery [41]. Most children with food allergy develop tolerance, as shown for cow’s milk (17/20) and hen’s eggs (14/17), by the age of 2 years [42]. Risk factors for a persisting allergy to cow’s milk or wheat include having a history of anaphylaxis and high food allergen-specific IgE levels [43, 44].…”

Oral and Sublingual Immunotherapy: Potential Causes for Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorders?

“…Milk allergy is the most common FA in children. Milk allergy resolves in approximately 80% of patients by the age of 5 years, but other studies have shown that 19% of them resolve at the age of 4 years and 79% by the age of 16 years [1,10,14] . Similar findings have been observed for egg allergy [15] .…”