SENSITIZATION TO PEANUT ALLERGENS IN INFA NTS AGED UNDER 4 MONTHS - BASED UPON 125 CASES

The existence of peanut hypersensitivity was investigated by prick-tes ts in 125 children. Two groups of healthy subjects were studied. Group 1: 54 newborn infants aged between 1 and 11 days. Group 2: 71 babies aged between 17 days and 4 months (62 newborn and 63 infants aged over 28 days). Mild atopic dermatitis was seen in 4.2% of infants. Normal skin reactivity to codeine was seen in 66% of newborn and 93% of infan ts, correlating well with other previous studies. The incidence of pos itive prick-tests to peanut was the same in both groups: 8%. No signif icant differences were seen regarding the following factors: family hi story of allergy, dietary habits during pregnancy, brand of milk formu la used (containing peanut oil or not). The authors discuss the link b etween positive skin tests and IgE-dependent sensitization, on the bas is of data from the literature. Results point to an underestimated inc idence of the occurrence of in utero food-induced sensitization. The p ossible implications of this early sensitization are discussed, indica ting the need for longitudinal studies in a more extensive cohort.