Background: Egg is the most frequent cause of food allergy in children. The bird-egg syndrome, found in a group of patients sensitized to egg through bird proteins, was infrequent in children. We report a patient with former history of hypersensitivity to egg who developed episodes of angioedema after ingestion of hen meat.
Methods: Prick testing with egg and their different antigenic protein fractions, alpha-livetin and chicken meat was performed. Antigens of hen meat were used for the skin prick test and prick-by-prick. Serum-specific IgE was identified with use of the CAP techniques and SDS-PAGE Immunoblotting.
Results: Prick test was positive with egg yolk, alpha-livetin and chicken meat. A prick-by-prick test with hen meat resulted positive in our patient, but the same test in four controls patients were negative. Serum specific IgE was positive for egg yolk and hen meat.
Conclusion: Allergy reactions to hen meat are exceptional. We report a case of children with allergy to egg proteins and hen meat that suggest an IgE mediated hypersensitivity reaction. Skin test reveal sensitivity to egg yolk and alpha-livetin, but this pattern of sensitization was infrequent in children.