Serious Infant Allergy Going Undiagnosed

Serious Infant Allergy Going Undiagnosed PR Newswire LONDON, June 7, 2012 LONDON, June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Urgent call for widespread education of parents, GPs and Health Visitors on the symptoms and diagnosis of cows' milk allergy National charity Allergy UK is urging doctors and parents to educate themselves on the most common food allergy in infants; a condition which, if not correctly diagnosed and treated, can seriously affect health and development, and cause distress to both the child affected, and their carers. This is following a comprehensive new report which shows a widespread lack of awareness and understanding of cows' milk allergy (CMA), its symptoms* and effects, within the medical community and amongst the UK's parents. Of the parents surveyed, whose children have been diagnosed with CMA, nearly one in five visited their GP 10 times or more while, in the average case, parents [1]had to make five trips to their doctor before diagnosis .This could be due to the fact that approximately 70% of GPs and health visitors feel they are not [2]informed on identifying the delayed type* of CMA in children . Whilst it is the most common food allergy in infants and young children, with a [3]prevalence of up to 7% of babies in the UK , too often the connection between symptoms is not made, leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment.