P92 - The prevalence of food sensitisation in children suffering from eczema

Background

Atopic dermatitis (eczema) is a highly pruritic chronic inflammatory skin disease. Food allergy has been strongly correlated with the development of persistence of atopic dermatitis.

Aim of the study

To investigate the association of food allergy in Greek children with atopic dermatitis.

Patients and methods

Eighty-eight (88) children with eczema (59 boys and 29 girls) aged between 12 months and 6 years were studied. All the children underwent allergological investigation with assignment of specific IgE antibodies (Elisa Method) to the following food allergens: α- lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, casein, milk proteins, egg white, egg yolk, beef, soy, wheat, and cod.

Results

Food sensitization occurred in 39 out of 88 children (44,3%). The frequency distributions for elevated specific IgE antibodies to various food allergens in children with eczema are shown in the following Table (Table 1).

Table 1 Frequency distributions of food sensitization in children with eczema

Conclusions

Food sensitization has a high prevalence of almost 44% among children with eczema.

Milk proteins are the most common food allergens implicated in children with eczema (27.25%), followed by egg white (22.21%), a-lactalbumin (21.2%), egg yolk (12.11%), β-lactalbumin (10.9%) and wheat (8.7%).

Beef, soy and cod fish are less common food allergens in children with eczema.