The ingestion of cow's milk formula in the first 3 months of life prevents the development of cow's milk allergy.
BACKGROUND
IgE-mediated cow's milk allergy (CMA) is one of the most common food allergies in infants. It is still controversial whether the early introduction of cow's milk formula (CMF) prevents the development of CMA.


OBJECTIVE
We aimed to evaluate the duration and frequency of CMF ingestion as compere with exclusive breast-fed for preventing CMA in high-risk infants.


METHODS
We enrolled the patients diagnosed with hen's egg allergy by an oral food challenge. A questionnaire was completed by the caregivers of the patients regarding the timing of introduction and discontinuation of CMF, and the frequency of CMF ingestion. Based on the information, we analyzed the relationship between the duration and frequency of CMF ingestion and the development of CMA at 3-24 months of age.


RESULTS
Three hundred seventy-four patients were analyzed; 171 were diagnosed with CMA (45.7%). The analyzed patients (n = 374) were categorized into the following subgroups: exclusively breast-fed (breast-fed group, n = 75); discontinued ingestion of CMF before 3 months of age (temporary group, n = 177); continuous ingestion of CMF, but not daily, up to 3 months of age (nondaily group, n = 47); continuous ingestion of CMF at least once daily (daily group, n = 75). The incidence of developing CMA between the breast-fed group and temporary group did not show any statistical difference. Nondaily group and daily group had significantly lower incidence of developing CMA in comparison to the breast-fed group (nondaily group odds ratio 0.43;p= 0.02, daily group odds ratio 0.11;p< 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Ingestion of CMF during the first 3 months of life might prevent the development of CMA in high-risk infants.
Department of Allergy, Aichi Children's Health and Medical Center, Obu 474-8710, Japan.; Department of Pediatrics, Heartlife Hospital, Okinawa 901-2492, Japan.
Tetsuhiro
T
Sakihara
Department of Allergy, Aichi Children's Health and Medical Center, Obu 474-8710, Japan.
Shiro
S
Sugiura
Department of Allergy, Aichi Children's Health and Medical Center, Obu 474-8710, Japan.
Komei
K
Ito
Breast feeding; Food allergy; Immunoglobulin E; Infant formula; Milk allergy