Allergy in infants

Allergy in infants is associated with an extremely high permeability of the intestinal wall, which is just beginning to form. This creates conditions for the penetration of allergic allergens into the baby's body, as a rule, allergy in infants is provoked by food antigens.

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]

What triggers an allergy in babies?

In the first place, the provocateur of allergy in infants is food, usually consumed by a nursing mother. Statistics of pediatric practice states that 85-90% of all diagnosed allergies in infants are food allergies.

If the mother who breastfeeds the baby, enjoys eating chocolate, strawberries, red fish, caviar, oranges, a child can not avoid some form of allergy. Also, one should not excessively get involved in the use of fatty cottage cheese, drink a liter of cow's milk in the hope that it activates lactation.

Secondly, the allergy in infants often develops on a background of mixed nutrition, and also because of the non-taking of formula with artificial feeding. It is unacceptable to feed a child prone to allergies with unadapted mixtures or porridges in cow's milk. The allergy to cow's milk protein is a typical phenomenon, unfortunately, increasingly occurring in infants. Also, the susceptibility of babies to the protein of chicken eggs, banana proteins, gluten (gluten of grain products), to rice proteins and, less often, to buckwheat protein is also high.

Here is a list of allergy-provoking foods (in the nourishment of the lactating mother and partially in the infant's diet):

High risk of allergy	The average risk of allergy	Low risk of allergy
Cow milk, Chicken eggs, Red fish caviar, Wheat and wheat products, Carrots raw, Tomatoes, Strawberries, Raspberries, Citrus fruits, Pomegranates, Pineapple, Melon, Chocolate, Cocoa, Coffee, Honey, Nuts, Mushrooms	Beef, Buckwheat, rice, oatmeal, Legumes, Soya, Peaches, Apricots, Cranberry, Cherry, Bilberry, Black currant, Rosehip, Bananas	Lenten pork, Rabbit meat, Turkey meat, Lamb, Sour-milk products, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Broccoli, Patissons , Squash , Cucumbers, Green apples, Pears, White and red currants, Cherry, Greens, Some plum sorts (yellow)

Causes of allergies in infants

Allergy in infants often develops against a background of reduced production of specific enzymes due to the "ripening" of the digestive system. The pancreas of the baby is not yet capable of producing the necessary amount of trypsin and protease, which breaks down proteins, amylase, carbohydrate-splitting, lipase, which breaks down lipids (fats). In addition, the composition of the microflora of newborns is also not formed to the end and most of the nutrients that have large molecules are not digested properly in the infant's stomach. Due to the high permeability of the walls of the intestine, food molecules can penetrate into the bloodstream, since the intestine is literally riddled with blood vessels. On unfamiliar substances, the baby's immune system reacts by producing specific antibodies - IgE, which "memorize" certain food macromolecules, that is, sensitization takes place. The next "meeting" of antibodies and antigens will be accompanied by a persistent allergic reaction. Such sensitization can develop from the first days of the baby's life, even if it is breastfed.

Allergy in infants can be triggered by the following factors:

• Hereditary predisposition to allergies. If one or both of the parents are allergic, the risk that the baby will suffer from allergies is very high.
• Harmful habits of the mother - smoking during pregnancy and after childbirth.
• Factors that are unfavorable in the ecological sense are environmental problems.
• Intrauterine hypoxia (gestosis during pregnancy).
• Infectious diseases of the mother during pregnancy.
• Antibacterial therapy of the mother during pregnancy.
• Non-compliance with the hypoallergenic diet from the feeding mom.
• Vaccination.
• Later applying to the chest.
• Artificial feeding, mixed feeding.
• Medicamentous therapy of the newborn.

[9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]

Symptoms of allergies in infants

Allergy in infants can manifest as skin, intestinal, respiratory manifestations

Symptoms of skin manifestations:

• Diffusive, common rash - spotted, punctate, itchy rashes. Bubble rashes are possible with crusts or wetting wounds. Most often the rash is localized on the face of the child, on the buttocks, hips, legs, less often on the stomach. It is customary to call this manifestation of allergy diathesis, although from a medical point of view this is not entirely true.
• Dryness and cracks around the lips, red lips, often with crusts and dampened wounds.
• Friction and sweat, persistent and not amenable to the usual methods of neutralizing them. Allergic diaper rash can be easily differentiated from simple: if the mother complies with all hygiene rules, the room has sufficient humidity and normal temperature, and the puff and rash in the folds do not disappear, this is evidence of an allergy.
• Persistent, non-vanishing gneiss is a dry crust on the scalp.
• Urticaria is a common small rash, prone to fusion into large blemishes.
• A variety of urticaria, characterized by bubble rashes in areas where there are folds, most often on legs and arms, less often on the soles of the soles of the feet and palms. This kind of urticaria is called strobulus.
• Quincke's Edema is a threatening symptom, characterized by rapid development and spreading in the form of an edema from the face to the neck, hands. Dangerous that it can cause suffocation.
• Exudative erythema - merging blisters throughout the body, often they burst, there are erosive wounds. Erythema can provoke acute intoxication of the body, similar to intoxication after a burn.

Allergies in infants, intestinal manifestations:

• Frequent regurgitation, vomiting.
• Atypical plaque on the tongue, cracks of the tongue in the form of a "geographical map" are possible.
• Elevated flatulence, bloating.
• Change the consistency and frequency of stool. The chair can be much more abundant in volume and have a foamy, mucous structure.
• Constipation or diarrhea. Painful defecation.
• Colic, to which the baby reacts with sudden crying, movements of the legs, tension of the abdomen (taut).

Allergies in infants, respiratory manifestations:

• A dry, frequent cough that intensifies, usually at night.
• Rhinitis is a persistent runny nose, which has no cause in the form of a viral or other respiratory disease. Allocations from the nose are transparent, abundant.
• Multiple sneezing - the baby sneezes 5-10 times in a row.
• Wheezing.
• Dyspnea.
• Asthmatic attack is possible.

Other possible manifestations of allergies in the newborn:

• Uncharacteristic rapid urination.
• Swelling of the eyes or vice versa, like sunken eyes, shadows under the eyes.
• Tearing, redness of the eye sclera and itching in the eyes.

Treatment of allergies in infants

The main method of treating any type of allergy is the exclusion of a provoking factor. Since allergies in infants are most often caused by food components, a strict hypoallergenic diet should be introduced primarily for the nursing mother. From the mom's menu, all foods that can provoke an allergic reaction in a child are excluded, as well as the inadmissible use of foods containing preservatives, dyes, stabilizers and emulsifiers.

If the child is on artificial or mixed feeding and allergy is caused by an unadapted mixture, you should carefully choose a hypoallergenic product, preferably with the help of a pediatrician. General recommendations on the nutrition of a baby who is on artificial feeding, relate to the experimental correct selection of mixtures and constant monitoring of the skin, the function of the digestive tract of the baby.

An allergic baby can be advised of such products: 

• Mixtures made on the basis of hydrolysates of cow's milk protein. It can be a mixture of medicinal purposes or a mixture of prophylactic purposes. All these products can be given to a baby from the first birthday. 
• From the age of six months, the baby can be given mixtures made from the soy protein isolate. 
• From the first month of life baby hypoallergenic dairy-free cereals will do. 
• From the age of six months in the menu, you can include a combination of vegetable mashed potatoes, as well as berry and fruit purees and juices, preferably from industrial producers with proven hygienic certificates. 
• From the age of eight months the child can be given meat purees from poultry meat, rabbit or lamb.

Allergy in infants does not exclude the mother's milk nutrition, even if the primary reaction originated specifically in mother's milk. It is necessary to preserve breastfeeding as long as possible, since it gives not only the basic nutrients for the baby's body, but very important components for the formation of an active immune system - secretory IgG immunoglobulin, certain types of enzymes, hormones.

If the allergy in infants is manifested by menacing symptoms such as Quincke's edema, choking, bronchospasm, immediate medical attention should be called for. Also, you should consult an ambulance manager what can be done in anticipation of a doctor, what kind of antihistamines can be given to a child in view of his condition and age.