Milk Allergy

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Abstract
The clinical features of 21 babies with cow''s milk allergy have been described. The diagnosis of milk allergy can only be made in an individual case by demonstrating the disappearance of symptoms on withdrawing the offending milk, and their return on its re-introduction. Direct skin tests and passive transfer tests using raw cow''s and allied milks seldom help to confirm the diagnosis nor do they reveal which foods the baby will tolerate. Antibodies to cow''s milk in the serum of babies with milk allergy, as demonstrated by double diffusion in agar gel, were demonstrated only infrequently in these patients. Such antibodies neither confirm nor exclude the diagnosis. These patients nearly always have a strong family history of allergy in general and of intolerance to cow''s milk in particular. Babies sensitive to cow''s milk are also often sensitive to other foods, and may develop respiratory and cutaneous as well as gastro-intestinal manifestations of allergy to these other substances.