Source:
King's College London
Summary:
Scientists from King's College London have found that young children with
severe eczema infected with Staphylococcus
aureus (SA) bacterium, are at a higher risk of developing a food allergy.
King's
College London have found that young children with severe eczema infected with Staphylococcus aureus (SA) bacterium,
are at a higher risk of developing a food allergy.
Staphylococcus
aureus
(SA) is a bacterium that can be found in the nose and the skin of healthy
individuals.
However,
SA is more common in sufferers of eczema, especially severe eczema.
When
someone has an allergy, their immune system mistakes a harmless substance (such
as eggs or peanuts) as an intruder and overreacts in response. Their body
produces a molecule or else antibody known as Immunoglobin E (IgE).
When
IgE encounters the intruder on the skin or within the body it releases
chemicals, such as histamine that cause the allergic reaction.
The
team of scientists found that young children with severe eczema who are
infected with SA produce more IgE against peanut, egg and milk indicating they
have a food allergy to each of these.
These
children were also more likely to have their egg allergy persist at the age of
5 or 6 years in comparison to children that did not have SA present.
Lead
author Dr Olympia Tsilochristou from King's College London said: "This is
significant as most children with egg allergy usually outgrow this at an
earlier age.
"We
do not know yet the exact mechanisms that lead from eczema to food allergy
however our results suggest that the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus could be an important factor contributing to
this outcome."
These
results build on the earlier ones from the Learning Early about Peanut Allergy
(LEAP) study which demonstrated that infants who were at a high-risk of
developing peanut allergy but consumed a peanut? containing snack throughout
the study were prevented from later developing a peanut allergy.
In
this current study, scientists found that children with SA on their skin and/or
nose were more likely to develop peanut allergy despite them being fed with
peanut from early ages as part of the LEAP study protocol.
Co-author
Professor du Toit said: "These findings indicate that SA may have reduced
the chance of young infants gaining tolerance to peanut, even if peanut was
eaten in early childhood."
Professor
Lack, who conceived and led the LEAP study, said that "SA could be
considered as an additional risk factor for the development of food
allergy."
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