Baker's asthma in a child.
BACKGROUND
baker's asthma is a well-known occupational lung disease which usually develops in adults. We report the case of a two years old boy who suffered from asthma, urticaria and atopic dermatitis for twelve months, whose symptoms were associated to visits to his grandfather's bakery.


RESULTS
skin prick tests (SPT) were made to dust mites, moulds, flours, alfa-amylase and egg. It was also determined total IgE and specific IgE antibodies to alfa-amylase and flours. Subsequently, a challenge test was carried out with wheat flour. The SPTs were positive to flours, alfa-amylase and egg. The determination of specific IgE antibodies showed 2.64 kU/L to wheat, 0.79 kU/L to glyadin and 2.98 kU/L to alfa-amylase. The patient developed asthma and rhinitis after manipulating wheat flour for 10 min.


CONCLUSIONS
we demonstrated a type I hypersensitivity to wheat flour and alfa-amylase in a two years old child by SPT, specific IgE antibodies and challenge test. This case in the childhood equivalent of occupational baker's asthma.
Alonso
E
E
Allergy Department. Hospital del Niño Jesús, Madrid, Spain. alonsol@nacom.es
Ausín
A
A
Elices
A
A
Moreno-Escobosa
M
M
Ibáñez
M
M
Laso
M
M
D000799:Angioedema / Q000209:etiology; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D002645:Chickens; D003296:Cooking; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000209:etiology; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D004531:Eggs / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005433:Flour / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000276:immunology; D007223:Infant; D007428:Intradermal Tests; D008297:Male; D012434:Secale / Q000276:immunology; D013025:Glycine max / Q000276:immunology; D014908:Triticum / Q000276:immunology; D014581:Urticaria / Q000209:etiology
D004527:Egg Proteins; D007073:Immunoglobulin E