Investigation of prevalence of cow's milk and EGG allergy in one year old babies in gaziantep province and factors affecting the prevalence

Aim: Cow's milk and egg allergy are the most important food allergies in infancy. There are very few studies on prevalence of cow's milk and egg allergy in our country. In our study, we aimed to determine the point prevalence of these allergies and the factors affecting this, which started to be a serious health problem for babies. Material and Method: The frequency of cow's milk and egg allergy in infants who applied to family health centers for their 1 year old vaccine in Gaziantep province and the factors affecting this were investigated. Cow's milk and egg allergy skin test was applied to all babies in the study. Questionaire form was filled by discussing with the parents. Complete blood count, cow's milk and egg specific IgE tests were performed from babies who were positive for allergy skin test. Oral challenge test were performed with related food in babies with positive skin test. Results: The prevalence of egg allergy was 3.34% and the prevalence of cow's milk was 0.77%. It was revealed that the risk of egg allergy increased in babies with high educated mother (p=0,029). It was found that atopic dermatitis was more common in infants with food allergies (p<0,0001). Egg allergy and food allergy were observed to occur more in male gender (p=0,035) (p=0,023). Conclusion: According to the previous studies in our country, the prevalence of cow's milk and egg allergy was increased. We conclude that egg allergy is more common than cow's milk allergy. It was concluded that there is a very close relationship between food allergy and atopic dermatitis. Keywords: Cow's milk allergy, egg allergy, skin prick test, oral food challenge test