Cows' milk allergy in babies 'going undiagnosed'

 Parents, GPs and health visitors need better understanding of one of the most common food allergies in infants, say experts By Peter Russell WebMD UK Health News Medically Reviewed by Dr Farah Ahmed  7th June 2012 - A lack of understanding about the symptoms of cows' milk allergy in infants and young children is leading to many cases going undiagnosed, a charity report says.  Allergy UK says doctors and parents need a fuller understanding of the condition which can cause distress to the child and its parents.

A common condition  Cows' milk allergy is the most common food allergy in children. Between 2% and 7.5% of babies in the UK are known to have an allergy to cows' milk, but some experts say the number could be as high as 15%.  Allergy UK say a diagnosis is frequently missed because the symptoms also apply to a range of other conditions. These symptoms include:  Skin rashes Diarrhoea Vomiting Stomach cramps Difficulty breathing Dr Adam Fox, a consultant paediatric allergist and co-author of the charity's report, says an additional problem faced by GPs is that the symptoms are often delayed, occurring hours or even days after the infant is fed cows' milk. "I spend all day in allergy clinics seeing nothing but allergy patients," he tells BootsWebMD. "If you're in a GP practice and you see armies of small babies with a bit of reflux, a bit of eczema, a bit of diarrhoea, then it makes it harder to tease out the ones with an underlying milk allergy."  

Survey of parents  Allergy UK surveyed 1,000 parents of infants up to the age of 12 months who had been diagnosed with cows' milk allergy. It found that almost one in five visited their GP 10 times or more before the diagnosis was made. On average, parents had to make five trips to their doctor before diagnosis.  TV presenter Jenni Falconer, who recently gave birth to her first child, Ella Rose, is backing the campaign to raise awareness of the condition. She tells us that new parents can feel panicked if their baby has a number of unexplained symptoms. "They see their child is not happy, they see their child is clearly dissatisfied with something, but not being able to understand what is the problem causes the parents a lot of grievance as well." 

Doctors 'want more guidance'  Allergy UK says problems and delays in diagnosis stem from the fact that most GPs and health visitors feel that they are not sufficiently informed about how to identify cows' milk allergy in children. It says that 77% of GPs and health visitors said they would be better placed to give better support to parents if they had greater confidence and knowledge of the condition.  The research also shows that while 75% of parents say they have heard of cows' milk allergy, half of them could not identify any symptoms.  

Getting help  Dr Fox says parents should look out for some tell-tale signs that might indicate their young child has the condition. "An infant who's got significant eczema, that isn't getting better despite getting appropriate treatment - the regular moisturiser and even steroids from the doctor - particularly if there are also other signs, for example of reflux, colic or diarrhoea - it's those kids that people need to start thinking about cows' milk allergy earlier," he says.  Jenni Falconer adds: "You have to be realistic, you have to not panic unnecessarily, but if you have any queries or any concerns ... then do go to your GP."