MILK ACCOUNTS FOR HALF OF ALL FOOD ALLERGIES IN CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN ONE
CMA: MORE AWARENESS NEEDED
As more studies highlight the increase in the incidence of cow’s milk allergy, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that more awareness of this potentially fatal allergy is required.
T
he fallout from milk allergy continues to go from bad to worse, with a recent report highlighting a ‘concerning increase in
fatalities’ among children due to cow's milk allergy (CMA).
Recent research published in The BMJ has shown that milk is responsible for 26 per cent of food allergy deaths in school-aged children, making it the most common cause of fatal food anaphylaxis among this group.
The study, which was carried out by Imperial College London’s National Heart and Lung Institute, looked at data from 1998 to 2018, when 101,891 people were admitted to UK hospitals for severe allergic reactions. While food allergies accounted for 30,700 of these admissions, what was particularly alarming was that the largest increase occurred in the under-fifteen age group.
The study found that the increase was from 2.1 admissions per 100,000 people to 9.2 per
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100,000, with cow's milk blamed for 17 of the 66 deaths in school-aged children.
In the report, the authors also highlighted the increase in the number of prescriptions for adrenaline auto-injector pens, which are used to treat severe allergic reactions.
Meanwhile, an American study has shown that cow's milk is now the most common food allergy in children younger than five years, and accounts for about half of all food allergies in children younger than one.
Paul Turner, PhD, from Imperial College London, who was involved in the British analysis of the report, believes that it is lack of awareness that makes milk allergy so dangerous.
‘We need to get that information out to the public and businesses,’ he said, ‘so they take the same level of care that they have with nuts, and when someone says they have milk allergy, they take it seriously,’ he said.
What is milk allergy? Milk allergy is an abnormal response by the body's immune system to milk and products containing milk. Cow's milk is the usual cause of milk allergy, but milk from sheep, goats, buffalo and other mammals can also cause a reaction.
There are two main proteins in cow's milk that can cause an allergic reaction: • Casein, found in the solid part (curd) of milk that curdles
• Whey, found in the liquid part of milk that remains after milk curdles
If a person has a milk allergy, the immune system identifies certain milk proteins as harmful, triggering the production of immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to neutralise the protein (allergen). The next time the person comes into contact with these proteins, IgE antibodies recognise them and signal the immune system to release histamine and other chemicals, causing a range of allergic signs and symptoms.
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