How to Detect Allergies in Infants

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Dr. Ana Lamas and I am a practicing allergist and immunologist in the Miami area. Lets talk about how to detect allergies in infants. That's actually an interesting question because allergies in infants is not a very common phenomenon. Mostly, if an infant is going to be an allergic baby, that baby will be allergic to the foods, the formula specifically, that the baby is consuming or allergens that are reaching that baby through the breast milk. Allergens that the mother is consuming and is coming through the breast milk. A very common mistake is that infants are allergic to the environment. That usually doesn't occur until after the first several years of life so it is quite uncommon for an infant to have any type of pollen, dust or mold allergy. If one were to suspect an allergy in an infant then really the only possible way to diagnose it is with blood work. Infants do not have the maturity of the skin or the skin turgor to be able to tolerate skin testing, allergy skin testing nor is it appropriate for them. The allergy blood work that we obtain is called the RAST test or the gold standard is called the immune-o-cap and that test is basically will address whether that infant has allergic antibody to for example milk protein, soy protein, the common proteins of their formulas. Once that has been found one can make changes in their nutrition and will see miraculously that the systems which that infant had will abate. Those symptoms are usually on their skin. Often infants will be addressed as to whether they are allergic because of a cough, but one must really look for gastrointestinal issues of infancy."