Percutaneous sensitization to almond oil in infancy and study of ointments in 27 children with food allergy

A five month old child with atopic dermatitis developed contact dermatitis to almond with positive patch test, positive prick test, and class 4 anti-almond IgE. Focal lesions of persistent eczema were correlated with application of almond oil for 2 month on cheeks and buttocks. The child had not ingested almond and her mother did not report almond intake during her breast-feeding. This observation points to the problems of possible percutaneous sensitisation to food proteins. The study of skin ointments containing components of food origin in 27 food sensitized atopic patients confirm that the choice of an ointment for lesional skin is of importance.