Diagnosis of Cow's Milk Protein Allergy Among Infants and Children in Assuit University Children Hospital

Food allergy is a reproducible specific immune response to the exposure to a given food. Cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) is a clinically abnormal reaction to cow's milk protein (CMP) via immune mechanisms triggered by milk protein (Boyce etal., 2010) . According to the European Academy for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and the World Allergy Organization (WAO), a hypersensitivity reaction to cow's milk involving the immune system can be called as CMPA.There is difference between CMPA and non-allergic cow's milk intolerance (e.glactose intolerance) which occurs as a result of lactase deficiency without involvement of the immune system (Venter etal ., 2013) . CMPA is categorized into immunoglobulin IgE mediated, non-IgE mediated, or mixed CMPA(Sichereretal ., 2001) . 1.9% to 4.9% prevalence of CMPA among children with a peak in prevalence (2-3%) in the first year of life and prevalence of \<1% in children aged ≥6 years(Koletzkoetal ., 2012) .