Recognizing cow's milk allergy in young children

Cow's milk allergy in young children may go unnoticed and be mistakenly attributed to a digestive disorder.

Breast milk is the best choice for babies. /// Shutterstock

After experiencing a rash, an 18-month-old boy was taken by his mother to the National Children's Hospital in Hanoi for examination. His mother said: "Occasionally, he gets red rashes around his mouth. These rashes only appear 5-10 minutes after each time he drinks milk. Initially, the rashes appear around the mouth area, sometimes spreading to his face, then his arms, legs, and stomach." At the allergy clinic of the National Children's Hospital, after examination and testing, the results showed that the boy was allergic to cow's milk protein.

Another case involves a 6-month-old girl in Hanoi whose parents brought her to the hospital because she frequently vomited and had diarrhea, sometimes even passing blood in her stool after drinking milk. Suspecting dysentery, the family took her to the National Children's Hospital. After examination and tests to rule out other medical causes, the family was shocked to learn that the "culprit" behind the prolonged diarrhea was a cow's milk protein allergy.

According to Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Quynh Le, a specialist in immunology, allergies, and rheumatology at the National Children's Hospital, cow's milk protein allergy is a reaction of the child's immune system to the protein components in cow's milk and products derived from cow's milk. Cow's milk protein allergy has the highest incidence among food allergies in infants (from birth to 30 days old) and young children (approximately 2-7.5% of children in this age group). Cow's milk protein allergy usually occurs from a few minutes to a few hours after consuming milk or dairy products, and this condition usually resolves before the child reaches 3 years of age.

Dr. Le added that the Department of Immunology - Allergy - Rheumatology (National Children's Hospital) has received many cases of cow's milk protein allergy. Besides the rash after consuming cow's milk, children in this group may also experience wheezing and vomiting. These allergy symptoms can appear immediately after the child drinks the milk (within 2 hours). Some children with delayed allergies (over 48 hours) often have symptoms such as loose stools, possibly with blood, diarrhea, abdominal distension, which can easily be mistaken for gastrointestinal diseases.

Caring for children with cow's milk protein allergy

Dr. Le further noted that children with cow's milk protein allergy are at risk of other food allergies such as eggs, soy, peanuts, beef, and other dairy products; atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, etc. Children whose parents have a history of allergies such as drug allergies, urticaria, asthma, allergic rhinitis, etc., are at a higher risk of developing cow's milk protein allergy than other children. "When a child is diagnosed with cow's milk protein allergy, they need to avoid cow's milk and dairy products and should avoid other types of animal milk. It's important to pay attention to the information on product labels to avoid giving children products containing cow's milk protein," the doctor advised.

According to experts, cow's milk protein allergy is usually a temporary condition and most children will resolve it by the time they are 1-4 years old. At that point, a doctor will examine the child and recommend trying regular nutritional products containing cow's milk again. However, this requires medical supervision.

According to TNO