[Food allergy in children. I. Clinical aspects and diagnosis]

Two hundred and thirty children with suspected food allergy have been reviewed retrospectively. One hundred and nine fulfilled the following three selection criteria: suggestive anamnesis, presence of specific IgE antibodies (in serum or by skin prick test), and having been reassessed at least once. The major clinical data analyzed were: age of onset, sensitising foods, symptomatology and diagnostic procedures. The results show a mean age of onset for food allergy of 11.5 months, with variations related to the sensitizing food, cow's milk allergy being the earliest in onset time. The most frequent sensitizing foods in this group of patients were eggs, fish and cow's milk. The skin and the gastrointestinal tract have been the most affected shock organs, both together or isolated; respiratory symptoms were an uncommon finding and their isolated presentation as the sole manifestation of food allergy exceptional. The skin prick tests were positive in 99.2 percent of the sensitizations and in 84 percent high levels of specific IgE antibodies were found. Food allergy seems to be a common situation in children, clinical symptomatology is similar to that of the other atopic diseases and the diagnosis is based on the demonstration of specific IgE antibodies against the sensitizing foods.