Allergy to cow's milk proteins: a step toward earlier support

Allergy to cow's milk protein is a very common condition that affects nearly 10% of infants less than three months, but can also affect older children.

Often associated with other food allergies, it also predisposes to the occurrence of asthma.

The first bottle of baby milk (which contains cow's milk) they receive, some of the children who were breastfed by their mothers vomit and become "pale, quite gray", described Dr Edwige Antier pediatrician practicing in Paris. This sometimes dramatic as it can go up to anaphylactic shock, is that are grouped under the term "manifestations of immediate type of allergy", allows the physician to easily diagnosis of allergy protein from cow's milk.

But this disease is most often manifested more ambiguously, through symptoms persist and interfere with everyday life of the child who consumes daily milk, and that of his parents. Chronic diarrhea, colic and abdominal pain, constipation, gastroesophageal reflux disease, sleep disorders, eczema or poor weight gain among these are the "delayed-type events," noted Dr. Delphine de Boissieu, gastroenterologist and allergist in the Neonatal Medicine, Saint Vincent de Paul Hospital in Paris (XIV arrondissement).

FACILITATE THE DIAGNOSIS ...

But these symptoms may also be due to other conditions, and so far the only reliable tests to determine with certainty that a child had a delayed allergic to cow's milk protein should form be made in the context of a consulting firm specializing in hospital for allergy service.

Test, marketed by DBV Technologies, a French company for biomedical research involving pediatricians and engineers, avoids all these complications. On the advice of the attending physician (general practitioner or pediatrician), parents of a child with symptoms suggestive of delayed allergic to cow's milk proteins form can buy this device in pharmacies. They can easily put themselves patch containing allergens milk and empty patch (control) through two applicators, they withdraw coated after 48 hours and allow the physician interpreting the test 72 hours after installation.

In fact, the finely powdered milk powder adheres to patch through electrostatic interactions, said Dr. Pierre-Henri Benhamou, a gastroenterologist in the service of Professor Christophe Dupont and member of the DBV Technology company. When installing the device, the sweat will moisturize milk powder and "reconstitute the milk as we reconstitute in a bottle", thus inducing an allergic reaction, he added.

... BETTER TO SUPPORT

The test is considered positive when the skin is much more red on the side of the test milk compared to the control test. In this case, the milk protein allergy is confirmed. The doctor will then prescribe what is called a total elimination diet, which is to completely eliminate the offending allergen from the diet of the young patient.

"It is not easy for the doctor and it is very difficult for the parents decision," summed Edwige Lantier. Indeed, it is difficult to avoid the allergic child does not consume yogurt, a biscuit, mashed potatoes or any other food containing milk when he is with his nanny, school or birthday party a comrade, said the Parisian pediatrician.

But if "we really removes very strict allergen" for a duration defined by the physician, "the reintroduction, it is likely that the child is not allergic," she insisted. For unlike the adult allergy-definitively, that the child may be reversible.

This "healing" of the allergy of the child, the frequency of which depends on the food (very rare for peanuts in nearly eight out of ten for the egg) is not yet fully explained by researchers argue that including the fact that the immune system of the child is still maturing, said Dr. Delphine de Boissieu.