Wheezing Caused by Latex Allergy in a 25-Day-Old Infant with Atopic Dermatitis

Abstract

We report a case of a 25-day-old male infant with episodic wheezing caused by latex allergy. Full-term male infant without anomaly was breast-fed for the first 7 days of life. Thereafter, he partly began bottle-feeding of conventional cow's-milk–based formula with a natural rubber nipple. At 14 days of life, the infant had noisy breathing upon bottle-feeding, but not upon breast-feeding. The mother switched the infant to a soy formula, which did not improve noisy breathing. The mother also used nipple composed of isoprene and natural rubber latex or nipple composed of silicone and natural rubber nipple, which was confirmed by manufacturer. The infant wheezed when fed with these nipples. Moreover, the infant had transient diarrhea and vomiting at 18 days of life, when the mother ate an apple and breastfed him thereafter. Skin eczema appeared on the face and trunk at 21 days of life. Thus, the mother took the infant to our clinic. On presentation, his lungs were clear, and no heart murmurs were heard. Neither radiograph of chest nor ultrasound scans of heart or neck revealed any abnormality. Detailed study revealed that the infant was allergic to latex, extracts from rubber nipples, and apple, while he was not allergic to egg, cow's milk, soy, wheat, peanut, house dust mite, dog dander or cat dander. Thereafter, the mother breast-fed the infant without eating an apple, while she partly fed him with cow's milk–based formula by using plastic spoon. By 4 months of age, he was free from noisy breathing or eczema.