Child Allergy
Child allergy is occurs commonly. Allergy may be to food, pollens and dust (especially house dust mite), insect stings, pets or medicines. In an allergic person, the immune system recognizes some proteins as foreign. These proteins are called allergens. An allergen may be a food, an airborne particle like pollen or dust or a medicine. In an allergic person, the body thinks the allergen is a danger so attacks it with antibodies. These antibodies react with other cells releasing chemicals that set up the allergic reaction. These chemicals include histamine. This is called an IgE mediated allergy. Are all allergies IgE mediated?No, there are other types of child allergy as well as IgE mediated ones which have different mechanisms - particularly food allergies. The types of food allergy include:
Why are some children allergic?Allergies generally run in families so the most likely reason your child is allergic is that it is in your family. Asthma, eczema and hayfever also run in families and are often seen in allergic individuals. If these diseases run in your family, you will be described as atopic (or suffering from atopy). Child allergy is more common in atopic families. Allergies are more common these days and it has been postulated that this is due to houses being cleaner and children being exposed to less germs (which means their immune system develops differently and is more likely to become allergic). What is an allergic reaction?Allergic reactions can vary. Some allergens, such as pollens, cause a runny nose, itchy eyes and sneezing. Other allergies can cause an itchy skin rash that is often described as hives or welts. Some allergies make eczema worse. Some allergies cause wheezing and breathing difficulties and some cause tummy upset, such as tummy pain or vomiting. Babies with cow's milk protein intolerance can have blood in the stool. The most serious allergic reaction is anaphylaxis (or an anaphlylactic reaction). So the systems that may be affected include:
When either the respiratory tract or cardiovascular system are involved as well, this is anaphylaxis. What is anaphylaxis?Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of child allergy and can be fatal.Only a few children with allergy will have an anaphylactic reaction. Children usually have anaphylactic reactions to food. Anaphylaxis is usually fairly immediate after the allergen is ingested (within 15-30 minutes) and usually presents with at least 2 of the following systems affected:
Click here for an example of an anaphylaxis emergency plan Will my child grow out of their allergy?Most children will grow out of food allergies but they may develop other allergy-like diseases instead as they grow older, like hayfever and asthma. Some allergies are life-long.There is a theory of the atopic march - which means that children who are atopic (allergic individuals who are prone to asthma, eczema and hayfever) have eczema or food allergy when infants and then later develop asthma or hayfever. How do you test for allergies?The most important thing in determining what has caused child allergy is taking a good history (story) of what happened. IgE mediated reactions tend to occur within 60 minutes after the allergen contact.Skin prick tests may help identify allergens in IgE mediated allergens as can blood tests (RAST or EAST) - having a positive test does not always mean that there will be an actual reaction with the allergen although strongly positive tests are more likely to correlate with actual allergy. Click here for information on food allergies - food challenge is also used for testing in these children.  Custom Search What is the treatment for child allergy?The first thing is to avoid the allergen, so if your child has a peanut allergy, avoiding peanuts in the diet is the first thing to do to prevent a reaction. If your child has had an anaphylactic reaction in the past or has asthma that requires preventative treatment and has allergy, then your child will need Epinephrine (Adrenaline) that can be injected. There are auto-injector devices, such as EpiPen, that are easy to use in an emergency. You will also need to have a written action plan, developed with your doctor. Click here for an example of an anaphylaxis emergency plan For children who do not have anaphylactic reactions but have an itchy skin rash, the treatment will depend on the symptoms but if your child gets an skin rash, an anti-histamine, like Cetirizine, will be useful. How can I prevent child allergy in future children?The following gives an outline of evidence as it currently stands on preventing child allergy:
For some things, like probiotics and fish oil, although there is no evidence that they reduce allergy, pregnant women can take them if they feel they benefit their overall health as they will not harm your baby. Future studies may show some benefit from probiotics. So to summarize, to prevent child allergy you, as a parent, can do the following:
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References
To go to the top of the Child Allergy page, click here To go to the Skin Prick testing page, click here To go to the Food Allergies page, click here To go to the Egg Allergy page, click here To go to the Milk Allergy page, click here To go to the Peanut Allergy page, click here To go to the Dust Mite Allergy, click here To return to the Home page, click here Last reviewed 6 June 2010
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