Immunoglobulin E to cow's-milk protein in breast-fed atopic children.

Over a 3-yr period, 18 children , ages 10 mo to 5 yr, were discovered to have IgE to cow's-milk protein (CMP). They were compared with 18 age-matched patients for having been primarily breast fed during the first 6 mo of life. All were new allergy clinic asthmatic patients with a strong family history of atopy and evidence of IgE to multiple allergens. Analysis of the data on this allergic population revealed that both a history of breast feeding and of milk-induced immediate reaction in patients with CMP-specific IgE was significantly higher (p is less than 0.03) than in those patients without IgE to CMP. Inadvertent sensitization to food antigens can occur in some atopic breast-fed infants.