Chicken (is it cross-reactive at all w/ egg??)

[AdminCM]

Chicken

[admin rebekahc]

MandCmama
Member
Posted: 04.15.2010 at 02:01:45

The first table food my youngest ever had was a cookie. It was Christmas time and we had given him small pieces of them on two occaisions (the second being the time he reacted). After we confirmed it was egg he reacted to, our allergist advised that we hold off introducing chicken "for now". Do any of you with egg allergies have trouble with chicken as well? How long before you were able to try chicken with an egg allergic child? It's so hard to have that in the mix with the 2 food allergies already!

DS#1- 4 yo allergic to peanuts/avoiding tree nuts
DS#2- 2 yo allergic to egg


Pennsylvania, USA

[admin rebekahc]

CMdeux
Moderator1
Posted: 04.15.2010 at 02:19:56



If there is a link, this is the first I've heard of it.

Albumins are NOT related to the Myosins in muscle tissue at all.

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." -Robert Louis Stevenson

USA

[admin rebekahc]

MandCmama
Member
Posted: 04.15.2010 at 06:41:02

Hmmm...well now it's even more frustrating?!?

DS#1- 4 yo allergic to peanuts/avoiding tree nuts
DS#2- 2 yo allergic to egg


Pennsylvania, USA

[admin rebekahc]

MandCmama
Member
Posted: 04.15.2010 at 07:56:55

CM- I've been sitting here thinking back to our office visit...then I remembered she sent us home with a TON of reading material...I can't find the one sheet that gave a more in depth description, but I did find one sheet that states "Occasionally a person sensitive to egg is also sensitive to the meat of egg-laying chickens"...I believe the sheet I can't find (of course) said something like, most people are allergic to the same protien in egg; however, there is another protien,and if allergic to that one, you may also be allergic to chicken....something like that. I'll have to google it now!

DS#1- 4 yo allergic to peanuts/avoiding tree nuts
DS#2- 2 yo allergic to egg


Pennsylvania, USA

[admin rebekahc]

MandCmama
Member
Posted: 04.15.2010 at 08:08:21

Looked at a ton of sites...seems about 5% or less of childeren with egg allergy also have chicken allergy...couldn't find specifics on the connection, though...

DS#1- 4 yo allergic to peanuts/avoiding tree nuts
DS#2- 2 yo allergic to egg


Pennsylvania, USA

[admin rebekahc]

suevv
Member
Posted: 04.15.2010 at 08:50:18

Don't know about the protein question - but our ds eats chicken by the truckload and he is EA (though not anaphylactic on his one - tiny- exposure).
 
Edited to add: I would NOT go against your doctor's recommendation - but I might strongly consider getting a second opinion.
 
Sue

« Last Edited by suevv 04.15.2010 at 08:52:58 »

[admin rebekahc]

CMdeux
Moderator1
Posted: 04.15.2010 at 09:13:47

Exactly-- that's what I was thinking, as well.


We were told by all three of our allergists that a 5% chance of allergy was NOT a reason to avoid a food...
 

specifically, re: other legumes and PEANUT allergy.

(For reference, this was after my then year-old DD had already had a reaction to pn that was unambiguously life-threatening.)
 
With a single allergy, it might not be such a big deal to avoid two things...





but in a household with MFA...

well, firstly it is probably adding stress that you don't need. 

Secondly, there's some (increasing) anecdotal clinical evidence that suggests that limiting foods can actually lead to sensitization instead of tolerance...
 
Vitellins and Albumins are the proteins in EGGS. To the best of my knowledge, those proteins simply aren't in the meat of poultry. Perhaps this was cross-reactivity with eggs from other domestic fowl?
 
Seems like that one is up in that range-- 5-20% cross-reactivity among hen-egg allergic individuals, and I think that if it is one protein versus the other, that risk is higher...
 
I've read a LOT about egg allergy in ten years... and I have never seen anything re: any link. There is a putative (though very low) risk of beef allergy in milk allergic persons, apparently... but even that is quite rare.
 

If you find your reference for the link-- or can convince the allergist to refresh your memory, I'd love to know what it is. 

« Last Edited by CMdeux 04.15.2010 at 09:15:13 »

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." -Robert Louis Stevenson

USA

[admin rebekahc]

CMdeux
Moderator1
Posted: 04.15.2010 at 09:21:32
 
Ahhhh-- I wonder if your allergist is thinking of Bird-Egg syndrome.

In Bird-Egg Syndrome, cross-reactivity to Hen's egg occurs (2-3). IgE from patients with Bird-Egg Syndrome were shown to recognise a 70 kDa protein in egg yolk and some major allergens in bird feather extract. Chicken serum albumin is the same protein as that designated alpha-livetin in egg yolk. The sera of patients with Bird-Egg Syndrome, pooled with Budgerigar or Hen feather extract and egg yolk extract, led to complete blocking of IgE binding to allergens in egg yolk and bird feather extract. However, IgE from patients with egg white allergy did not react with allergens in egg yolk and bird feather extract, despite strong IgE binding to egg white allergens. These results indicate common epitopes of Budgerigar and Hen feather and egg yolk alpha-livetin, and researchers suggest that alpha-livetin (Chicken serum albumin) leads to a cross-sensitisation and consequently to "Bird-Egg Syndrome" (4-6). This adult type of egg intolerance must be distinguished from the common egg white allergy of atopic children.

(bold mine)

This is from ImmunoCAP/Invitrosight's webpage (they are THE company re: RAST testing, so definitely reputable info).

http://www.immunocapinvitrosight.com/dia_templates/ImmunoCAP/Allergen____28503.aspx



Do you know if your child is egg-YOLK allergic?

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." -Robert Louis Stevenson

USA

[admin rebekahc]

CMdeux
Moderator1
Posted: 04.15.2010 at 09:37:55

Yes, that seems to be it.

http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/abstract.do?topicKey=%7Ef%2FjKKr9QdaLL4%2F&refNum=9
 
This is from the reference mentioned here--

http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=~f/jKKr9QdaLL4/

This is probably the 'strongest' evidence for such a link-- but look at the publication date. This is also probably information that doesn't even APPLY, statistically, to anyone born after 1995.
 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6625124?dopt=Abstract


Also worth noting is that this was not a clinical study at all. So the results may or may not translate into clinical practice in the first place.
 
"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." -Robert Louis Stevenson

USA

[admin rebekahc]

CMdeux
Moderator1
Posted: 04.15.2010 at 09:46:02

A couple of much more recent origins:

This one, the article itself is in Spanish... but I can see what I would consider a methodological flaw in the conclusions just from the abstract.
 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12783767

This is another--

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19369862

That's probably the most reliable looking of the lot so far, honestly.


Another about egg-allergy just in general--

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18073126


With a bit of poking around on the net, it is often possible to locate free full-text copies of research articles. If you can't, a local library may have a database subscription service that will allow you to get one.
 
HTH!

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." -Robert Louis Stevenson

USA

[admin rebekahc]

ccmmom
Member
Posted: 04.16.2010 at 08:04:28

My son actually ate chicken before he tried egg. We have never had a problem with chicken.
 

[admin rebekahc]

AllergyMum
Member
Posted: 04.16.2010 at 08:12:03

My DS is extremly reactive to egg, but eats chicken all the time with no problems.
 
I agree that a second opinion is a good idea.

DS - Dairy, Egg, PN, TN, Drug allergies

http://allergymum.blogspot.com/

Canada

[admin rebekahc]

Janelle205
Member
Posted: 04.16.2010 at 09:35:17

I was going to mention bird-egg syndrome as well - it's something that my allergist and I discussed. I have adult onset egg allergy though - that developed after (though not necessarily related to) two years of working very closely (daily) with unreleasable education raptors. (specifically owls and hawks)
 

Luckily however, at this point I eat chicken with no negative effects, save for some occasional mystery hives that can't necessarily be positively correlated with the chicken. I haven't heard of a link in egg allergic children though.
 


Apologies if this post is wonky and difficult to comprehend - I'm on painkillers from medical procedure complications.

Me: Allergic to soy, egg, barley, tomato, orange, apple, cherry, peach, pear, nectarine, banana, canteloupe, watermelon, severe OAS to others, insect bites (severe to horseflies), way too many environmental allergens, and asthma.

[admin rebekahc]

MandCmama
Member
Posted: 04.16.2010 at 11:54:02

Thank you all for your input- CM I'll have to check out those links when I get home from work! Just wanted to let you know I'd put in a call to the allergist's office first thing this AM, and left a message for her, inquiring about trying chicken. Her nurse called me back a little bit ago and said that Dr. was fine with it now. She said there is only a small chance of reacting to chicken, but Dr. likes to wait until egg allergic infants are 12 months old to intro chicken. Connor was a year old two weeks ago, so we're in good shape! Looks like breakfast this weekend will be pancakes and chicken! 

DS#1- 4 yo allergic to peanuts/avoiding tree nuts
DS#2- 2 yo allergic to egg


Pennsylvania, USA