IMMUNOGLOBULIN-E TO COWS-MILK PROTEIN IN BREAST-FED ATOPIC CHILDREN

Over a 3-yr period, 18 children, ages 10 mo to 5 yr, were discovered to have IgE to cow's-milk prorein (CMP). They were compared with 18 age-matched patients for having been primarily breast fed during the first 6 mo of life. All were new allergy clinic asthmatic patients with a strong family history of atopy and evidence of IgE to multiple allergens. Analysis of the data on this allergic population revealed that both a history of breast feeding and of milk-induced immediate reaction in patients with CMP-speciflc IgE was significantly higher (p < 0.03) than in those patients without IgE to CMP. Inadvertent sensitization to food antigens can occur in some atopic breast-fed infants. © 1979.