[Intolerance to cow's milk proteins. An epidemiologic study]

The incidence of cow's milk protein intolerance (CMPI) varies depending on the series. The aim of the present investigation was to determine the incidence of this disease in our population and its change over the past the years. Over the period January 1977 to December 1986, 217 patients suspected to have the disease were submitted to a cow's milk challenge test. Diagnosis was confirmed clinically and/or pathologically in 121 patients and was ruled out in 96 patients. The incidence for the whole period was 0.78 cases/1,000 alive newborn infants. However, it fell significantly over the ten years, with a maximum of 1.36/1,000 alive newborn infants in 1979 and a minimum of 0.17/1,000 alive newborn infants in 1986 (r = 0.76, p less than 0.001). We conclude that, similarly to the observation in other diseases of nutritional origin, the incidence in our population of CMPI has clearly decreased, probably as a consequence of changes in the dietary habits.