Food allergy in dermatological disease in children

Food allergy acts via various mechanisms (type I, II, III and nonspecific histamine release) and presents several different clinical features in children: true urticaria (67 per cent of all cases of urticaria in children), contact urticaria, rash and erythematous episodes of atopic dermatitis, internal reactivation of contact eczema and/or dyshidrosis, urticaria due to nonspecific degranulation and other more less typical manifestations (contact eczema to trophallergens, aphthous reactivation, Lessof syndrome). A rigorous clinical assessment is just as important as investigation of sensitization. Food allergy in children presents several specific clinical (oedematohaemorrhagic tendency of urticaria in infants) and statistical features (high-risk allergen profiles of infancy and childhood), with a prospect of resolution of the allergy in the intermediate term when diagnosis and eviction are performed early.